In All The Worlds
by Meteoric Tree
Summary: Sequel to Walk This World. Several years after the White Witch's defeat on earth Caspian has adapted to life in England and is preparing to ask Susan to marry him. Then he disappears.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes:

To New Readers – _In All The Worlds_ is the sequel to _Walk This World_, a story I wrote last year. While I will try to make it so that reading the prequel is not necessary to enjoy this story, I believe that you will find it more enjoyable if you have read _Walk This World_.

To Returning Readers – I know I said that this story would be called "Across The Worlds" but it was brought to my attention that there is another active story in the Narnia fandom by that name, so in deference to its creator I have changed its title to "In All The Worlds." This is also the reason that I have moved up its posting date by about 2 weeks, so that I could correct the misinformation I presented everyone with as soon as I possibly could. Due to time constraints I will not be able to update this fic every day like I did with its predecessor last summer, but I will make every effort to post a new chapter at least once a week, starting in July. I'll try to keep my profile current with news and the status of any setbacks or other items of interest. Thank you all for your kind words in regards to _Walk This World_ and your continued interest in this story. Had it not been for your support this sequel would never have been written.

– Meteor

Chapter One

_"She looked back over her shoulder once as she stepped toward the door to her world. Her crystal blue eyes were filled with such regret as they locked on Prince Telmarine's that he actually raised a hand to reach for her. But before the prince could draw breath to voice a protest Queen Susanna had vanished, like mist in the sunlight, and her three siblings with her. Murmurs arose from the crowd, more regretful than astonished now that they'd witnessed this feat for the second time, but Prince Telmarine heard them not at all. _

_"He watched as other humans crossed over into the world of the Kings and Queens of old, barely noticing the number of those who left or the faces of those who he'd known his whole life but would never see again. Even though she was lost to him now the beautiful visage of Queen Susanna remained in his mind and haunted his thoughts. For years to come Prince Telmarine would continue to see her face in his dreams – dreams in which true love still seemed possible."_

Caspian looked up from his book and smiled at the assembled audience – it wasn't as easy as he expected. Sad memories made it hard enough, but the half dozen young women in the front two rows who were crying made it nearly impossible.

"I'll leave you with that for tonight," he told them. "I'm sure you'd much rather read it for yourselves than sit here and listen to me all evening. Thank you all for coming out this evening and for your interest in my newest book. I hope you all enjoy _The Dawn Treader's Quest _–"

"Mr. Casp!" cried one of his devoted fans who attended every one of signings and lectures that she possibly could. "Will Queen Susanna be returning to Narnia in this book?"

Caspian shook his head. "Sadly no. She –"

"Well then does Prince Telmarine journey to our world then? Do they finally get to be together?"

Caspian smiled again – it was easier this time than the last. "I don't want to spoil this book or its forthcoming sequels. I'll only say this – I believe in happy endings. Ultimately, that is. Most things worth having in this world, or any world for that matter, aren't easy to get, but in the end they're worth any pain it took to get them."

"That's not an answer," the young woman protested.

Professor Kirke chose that moment to intervene, much to Caspian's relief. "That's as much an answer as you'll get tonight, I'm afraid," he said, stepping forward to put a hand on Caspian's shoulder. "Mr. Casp has answered as many questions as he could and, as usual, we've run over."

Caspian glanced at the clock on the bookstore wall and winced. They had run over – forty-seven minutes over to be exact. "Sorry, Professor," he said immediately.

"Not at all, son," Professor Kirke told him, "but we do need to be closing up."

It took another twenty minutes and another two dozen questions for the audience to clear out. Thankfully no one else seemed to want the plots of future novels spoiled for them. The inquiries were more run of the mill questions that Caspian received often and had easy answers prepared for.

"Will Edmund Pevensie be co-authoring anymore books with you in the future?"

"So Lucinda and Edwin return to Narnia in this book?"

"Is it true that your characters are based on you and your friends?"

Caspian answered the questions good naturedly, letting his fans know that he and Edmund were already working on the next book together, assuring them that Lucinda and Edwin made their appearance in the very first chapter, and smiling cryptically as he told them most stories had some basis of truth in them.

"Thank you for coming, Caspian," Professor Kirke told him after they'd seen their last guest out. "We did very good business tonight – we always do when you come by."

"There's no better place to release my new book than at my old friend's bookstore," Caspian said as he straightened a shelf of books that had fallen askew.

"Except perhaps at a bookstore in London," Professor Kirke said wryly. "You'd draw about five times the number of people there."

"I try to stay focused on what's important," Caspian said, "and there isn't much that's more important than helping out a friend."

The professor regarded him warmly. "You're a good man, Caspian."

"I try," Caspian said seriously and hesitated for a moment, "Do you think Daniel thinks I am too?"

Professor Kirke raised a curious eyebrow. "Of course he does. Daniel Pevensie loves you as much as his own children and sees you as another son."

"I hope – I mean I . . ." Caspian seemed unusually nervous. The professor waited patiently for the younger looking man to sort out his thoughts. "I've been thinking," Caspian said finally, "of making it official. Well, I mean everyone knows that I . . . I've spoken with Daniel of it before and he's never given any indication that he minded, but next time I see him I intend to ask his permission –"

"Don't act so nervous, son," the professor said, unable to keep a straight face. "You know he'll give it. There's not a sane man alive who wouldn't want his daughter married off to a fine young man like you."

"Young?" Caspian asked ironically.

"You know what I mean," the professor said. "So, have you chosen a ring yet?"

"I have." Caspian frowned as though something had just occurred to him. "Do you suppose I should ask Peter and Edmund for their permission too? Might they be upset –"

"Boy," Professor Kirke said, unable to keep a slightly incredulous note out of his voice, "you've led armies, fought monsters, dueled witches, and died twice, yet you're scared how three men who already see you as family are going to react when you ask permission to do right by their sister?"

Caspian gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry. I can't help it."

Professor Kirke shook his head and motioned Caspian to the door. "Go on home," he said, pressing the key to his cottage into Caspian's hand. "Let yourself in – I'll be along shortly."

"You're sure there's nothing I can do to help you close up?" Caspian asked, even as the professor was pushing him out the door.

"I'm sure. There's only a bit of paperwork I need to take care of – no sense in both of us staying here for that," the professor told him. "Go on – and for God's sake don't lose any sleep worrying over how the Pevenises are going to feel about you marrying Susan."

And just like that Caspian found himself outside the bookstore, on the street.

It was a cold night but the moon was full and the sky was cloudless, so despite the temperature Caspian decided to take his time walking the short distance to the professor's cottage. He hadn't taken more than three steps away from the bookstore's door, however, when a shadow detached itself from the wall and moved to block his path.

Caspian let a hand fall to the dagger concealed beneath his coat. The man who stood before him didn't appear particularly threatening but there was something offsetting about him – something that put Caspian on edge without him quite knowing why. The man appeared to be in his fifties but had the eyes of someone who'd seen more years than his body showed. That was a look that Caspian was quite familiar with – Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, even Caspian himself all had that look, though Caspian saw it much more often in his four friends. In them it showed itself as a sort of serene wisdom, out of place in children or adults as young as they appeared to be, but by no means menacing. This man had a certain coldness about him – a darkness of sorts, as though every shadow he'd ever walked through still had some claim on his soul.

"Good evening," the man said to Caspian. There was nothing in his voice to suggest that he meant Caspian any harm but the greeting did not put Caspian at ease.

"Good evening," he returned, politely, but didn't let his guard down for a moment.

"I attended your reading, Mr. Casp," the man said, "though you might not have seen me inside."

"I'm afraid I didn't."

"I was near the back," the man said. "I heard everything you said just fine though. I find your work to be quite fascinating."

"Thank you, Mr. . . ?"

"Crowley," the man told him. "Aleister Crowley. Is my name known to you, Mr. Casp?"

Caspian shook his head even as he wracked his brain. "I'm afraid not. Should it be?"

"Well, if it were it might have saved me a bit of an explanation," Crowley told him, "but no matter . . ."

"An explanation of what?" Caspian asked warily.

Crowley's smile sent a cold shiver down Caspian's spine. "An explanation of just why I believe that everything in your books actually happened."

End of Chapter One


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Edmund winced as the door to Caspian's bedroom made a horrific creaking noise as he pushed it open. He cast a wary glance around the dim room before stepping across the threshold. His brother, sister, and the professor followed him.

"He didn't say a word to you?" Susan asked for about the fifth time since they'd arrived at Professor Kirke's cottage. "He didn't leave a note or anything?"

Professor Kirke shook his head. "The last time I saw Caspian was when he came into my bookstore the morning after _The Dawn Treader's Quest_ was released. He seemed quite normal – spoke with a few customers who were buying his book, autographed copies for them, picked up a book for himself. He insisted on paying for it even though I told him it wasn't necessary. He said he would be staying in Hasting a few days longer than he'd planned and that he'd see me that evening. When I closed up shop and came home he wasn't here and he hasn't been back since."

"That's not like Caspian," Peter said, sounding more than a little concerned.

Edmund crossed the room to pull open the shades and let some light in then moved to the bed and knelt down to pull Caspian's suitcase out from under it. "You didn't move anything or put anything else here, did you?" he asked.

The professor shook his head. "I left everything just as it was. I wasn't worried that first evening when I came home and didn't see him. I thought perhaps he was already asleep. The next day was Sunday so the store was closed. I came up to see if he was all right when he never came down for breakfast. He didn't answer when I knocked so I opened to door. Caspian was nowhere to be found."

"Are you certain he never came back Saturday night?" Susan asked, wringing her hands, probably not even realizing she was doing it. "He might have come in late and left early in the morning . . ."

The professor shook his head. "I would have heard the door creak," he said ruefully. "I meant to oil it before he came here for his book signing but time got away from me."

Edmund nodded, familiar with the house's quirks. He'd paid Professor Kirke a visit the previous year when _The Horse's Boy_ had just been released. Since their Narnian Chronicles had begun selling so well Caspian and Edmund made it a point for at least one of them to be at Kirke's Book Emporium for a signing whenever one of their new books was released.

It still amazed Edmund how things had turned out since Caspian had come to their world. Their father, who they'd believed to be a normal lieutenant in the Royal Army had turned out to be part of a secret division specializing in combating the supernatural forces that the Nazis had tried to reign in during the war. That was something Daniel Pevensie would probably never have confessed to his children, for fear of being thought mad, if not for Caspian.

Somehow the Nazis managed to pull Caspian into France from halfway between Narnia and Aslan's kingdom. They learned later that their original intent had been to summon powerful weapons from other worlds. Caspian had been carrying Rhindon at the time and the Nazis would have killed him to take the sword from him, not realizing that the weapon they'd summoned was Caspian himself – a fact revealed by Aslan himself at the adventure's end, but one that the Nazi bastards wouldn't have been able to wrap their minds around even if any of them had been alive to hear the great Lion at the time. The long and short of it though, was that Caspian had been rescued by Daniel Pevensie's regiment, and having nowhere else to go, joined them for a short time.

When Daniel returned to London on leave for the holidays, he brought Caspian with him. It would be putting it very mildly to say that the Pevensie children were surprised to see their old friend, who last they heard had died of old age. It would also be putting it quite mildly to say they were glad to see him. Even saying they were overjoyed and ecstatic was an understatement. How often did dear friends return from the dead after all?

It hadn't been sail smoothing all the way after their reunion, of course. Caspian had needed to come to terms with the life he'd left behind in Narnia. While little more than a year had passed on earth since the voyage of the Dawn Treader (which became the basis of a book he and Edmund would later write) nearly half a century had passed in Narnia. Caspian had married and had a son. Then his wife was murdered and his son kidnapped. He spent the rest of his life in Narnia lonely and miserable, half crippled by a battle wound that kept him from searching for his son himself. He only saw his son once more, at the end of his life, after Eustace returned to Narnia, sent by Aslan on a quest to free the kidnapped prince. That, incidentally, was to be the basis for their next book, one which Edmund was taking the lead on. Though Caspian had healed those memories were like scars, and if he had to listen to Eustace recounting them in his usual tactless way it would be like ripping those scars right open.

There had been other obstacles for Caspian since coming to Earth – most noticeably the showdown with the White Witch who the Nazis had also managed to summon. It was after that encounter that the first book of the Narnian Chronicles came into being. They'd been helping Professor Kirke move some things out of his old house and the professor had shared with them all the story of how Narnia was sung into being – as well as how the wardrobe that first let Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan into Narnia got its magic and how the lamppost in the Lantern Wastes came to be there. They'd all been held captive by the story (with the exception of Eustace who'd nodded off) but Caspian seemed more interested than the rest. He told Edmund later that the experience had been nostalgic for him – his nurse and his tutor told him stories of Narnia when he was younger. Caspian asked the professor for permission to write the story down and of course the professor gave it to him. Professor Kirke read it when it was finished and was quite impressed – as was his old friend in the publishing business.

Edmund was surprised when Caspian asked him to coauthor the story of the Pevensies' first trip to Narnia but of course he agreed. _The World in the Wardrobe_ became an even greater success than _The Magician and His Nephew. The Horse's Boy,_ which Edmund had taken the lead on, and _Prince Telmarine_ which had been mainly Caspian's work, had both been even bigger. Edmund found it odd to be a world famous writer when he hadn't even graduated from school yet, but he couldn't deny that he enjoyed it. Not as much as he actually enjoyed writing though, and being able to work with Caspian who'd become a part of the Pevensie family. Both Peter and Edmund considered him their best friend. Lucy saw him as another big brother and their father treated him like one of his own. Their mother adored him. Susan though . . . well Caspian held a special place in Susan's heart and she in his. It was obvious whenever they were together. Their faces lit up whenever they saw the other and their smiles started glowing.

The diamond on the ring that Edmund stumbled upon in Caspian's suitcase wasn't quite as bright as Susan's eyes were when she was looking at Caspian, but it was close. Edmund blinked at it then quickly closed the box that held it and hid it under one of Caspian's crisply folded shirts.

"I don't think he was expecting not to come back here," Edmund told his siblings and the professor. "There are two sets of clean clothes still here, consistent with his plans to return to London on Monday. Even if he changed his plans and decided to go somewhere else before coming back to London he'd have come back for this." And he certainly wouldn't have left the ring, but of course Edmund wasn't going to say that in front of Susan.

"He wouldn't have gone off somewhere without telling anyone," Susan fretted. "That's not like Caspian. He'd have told the professor or left a note . . . done something . . ."

Edmund shut the suitcase and stood up. The rest of the room was sparsely furnished – there was a desk, a shelf on the wall holding a few curiosities Professor Kirke's father had brought back from India years and years ago, and a small table beside the bed where a candle rested beside a slender, new looking book.

"Professor," Edmund said, standing and moving toward the table, "what book did Caspian buy from your store? Do you remember?"

Professor Kirke frowned. "I can't quite recall . . . Something by H.G. Wells, I believe."

Edmund looked down at the book on the table and read the title off the cover. "_The Time Machine _. . ."

"Yes, that's the one," Professor Kirke told him.

Edmund picked the book up. A piece of paper slipped out from between the pages and the cover and drifted to the floor. Edmund quickly knelt to retrieve it then turned it over. _For Peter and Edmund_ was written in Caspian's unmistakable script.

"Looks like he left us a note after all," Edmund said, unfolding the letter.

"Well read it already," Susan pressed.

Edmund straightened the parchment and obeyed.

_Peter and Edmund,_

_If you're reading this then I'm probably either missing or dead. Sorry. I didn't intend for things to turn out this way. _

_Last night (the night our new book was released) I was approached by a man named Aleister Crowley who claimed to believe everything in the Narnian Chronicles was real. I spoke with him briefly and listened to his claims that he too has traveled to other worlds. Some of the things he said were rather convincing and so I've agreed to another meeting with him today. I picked up a copy of __The Time Machine__ which he claims is the work of another world traveler and skimmed through it so as to be better prepared for whatever it is that he wants to tell me today. _

_There's something unsettling about Crowley though. I don't trust him but I don't really know why. If you're reading this then it seems my worries aren't unfounded. If you investigate this, and knowing the two of you there's really no 'if' about it, then __be careful__. I don't want anyone else getting hurt. _

_Right now there's not much else I can tell you. I'm probably worrying overmuch. It's just a meeting, in a public place even, and once I get back I'll tear this letter up. I guess I just feel better leaving this as insurance – so that if something does go wrong I won't have disappeared without a trace. But if you don't see me again, please tell Susan that I love her with all my heart and I'm sorry._

_Caspian X_

End of Chapter Two

Author's Note: Many thanks to all returning readers from last year, as well as the new ones who just discovered Walk This World last week when the preview chapter I posted moved the story up with the more recent fics. Double thanks to NorthernLights25, merlyn2, , sazza-da-vampire, Rhyselle, Ash12345, Miniver, Greyhound Master, maggie, mae-E, JaggerK, KrystalB2003, mcasey4, cflat, Lavendar, khajit, and SpicesRoses for all your encouragement.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Edmund frowned as he finished reading the last of the documents in the file their father sent them. He added the pages he was done with to Peter's pile then sat back to wait for the rest of his siblings to catch up.

"This is bad," Peter said when at last he'd read the final paper.

Edmund nodded then tilted his head toward their sisters, a silent reminder that they were still reading.

Susan shook her head, a strange glint in her eyes. "I've read enough," she said and thrust the papers away from her, toward the center of the table. "I can't concentrate on all this . . . this excess information. The only things that matter are that this Aleister Crowley is a bad man and that he's done something to Caspian.

"Knowledge is power," Lucy said softly, "and we don't have nearly enough of that right now. I think it's important to read these all the way through, Susan."

Susan wrung her hands and opened her mouth to argue.

Peter cut the argument short. "There will be time to finish reading them later," he told his sisters. "I think perhaps it would be best to discuss what we believe to have happened now then figure out how to proceed from there."

Lucy acquiesced with a nod. Susan gripped the edge of the table so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"I don't know what there is to talk about either," she said irritably. "Crowley has Caspian! We have to figure out what he's done with him and get him back!"

"I think we're all in agreement that Crowley is responsible for Caspian's disappearance," Peter said. Susan turned an angry, impatient gaze on him, but the oldest Pevensie didn't flinch. Edmund admired his brother's resolve – when Susan was as furious as she was now it was nearly impossible to look her in the eye.

"I agree," Edmund said, to steer the conversation toward the course he knew Peter wanted it to go – the course he wanted it to go on as well. Years of sitting through war councils together had given both brothers insight into the other's way of thinking. Edmund found it easy to predict what tactics Peter intended to use, sometimes even before Peter himself thought that far ahead. "I also believe," he said, to placate Susan, "that Crowley has managed to transport Caspian to another world. This theory is based on the clues that Caspian left us in his note and the fact that Crowley has gone missing as well."

When Daniel Pevensie learned that his surrogate son was missing and that Aleister Crowley was implicated in his disappearance, he'd pulled out all the stops to get information on the notorious mystic – unlike his children and Caspian he'd recognized the man's name immediately. He mentioned briefly via telegram that his unit had had dealings with Crowley during the war and that he would be flying back to England immediately to deal with the situation.

In truth though, Edmund wasn't quite sure how quickly their father could get there. Allegedly he was in America lecturing at a university. Allegedly. Edmund understood that the nature of his father's work didn't allow him to be as honest with his family as he was sure Daniel would have liked to be. It also didn't always allow him to drop everything at a moment's notice and fly back across the Atlantic Ocean, not even for a family emergency. He had called in a favor with the executives of the unit he worked for, however. Less than an hour after their last telegram correspondence with their father a man in a military uniform arrived at their house to personally deliver a thick file on everything the British military knew about one Aleister Crowley. Edmund had the feeling that most of it wasn't knowledge made available to the public and was almost positive that a good deal of it was classified. He was glad that their father had used his influence to get them that information. As Lucy said, knowledge was power and Edmund could see that they'd need every edge they could get over Crowley. The man who delivered them the file also informed them that an order had been given to take Crowley into custody, but that so far Crowley had not been found.

"Crowley can't have taken Caspian to another world," Susan protested. "Caspian wouldn't leave this world without a bloody good reason and there's no way that Crowley could force him to go. He's an old man, remember? Caspian has the physical strength of youth on his side."

"You're not taking otherworldly powers into consideration," Edmund reminded her. He knew that Susan wasn't deliberately trying to be difficult, but she didn't want to believe that Caspian might be beyond her reach.

"We are most likely dealing with magic," Lucy agreed. "In the book Caspian left us the Time Traveler uses his machine to travel from his own time to what he believes is another time. If Crowley was telling Caspian the truth about that book being real in the same way that the Narnian Chronicles are then it stands to reason that the Time Traveler actually visited another world rather than the future. If such a machine exists . . ."

"So we do have to consider that Caspian and Crowley might no longer be on earth," Peter said.

Susan opened her mouth to protest again.

"Which doesn't mean that we won't be able to help Caspian," Peter added hastily, before she could start arguing. "It just means that we have to consider factors that won't even cross the authorities' minds."

Susan deflated slightly at that.

"So say that this time machine exists," Edmund said, "and that instead of transporting people through time it transports them to another world – or possibly it is capable of transporting them to several other worlds. Do we think that Crowley used this machine to kidnap Caspian from our world?"

"At the very least he knows the machine exists," Peter reasoned. "He admitted as much to Caspian when he referred him to the book. It's not impossible that Crowley himself could be the so called Time Traveler that Wells wrote about."

"It's not impossible but I have trouble seeing that," Edmund said. "The Time Traveler seemed . . . altruistic, I guess. Wells was drawing definite parallels between the parts of society during his time that he found affronting and the corresponding parts of the societies he came across in the other world. It was almost like Gulliver's Travels in that respect. I can't see someone as lewd and amoral as Crowley being the basis for that character."

"True," Peter acknowledged.

"If Crowley does have that machine," said Lucy, "I think it's more likely that he came by it by less than honorable means."

"But if Caspian's in another world how are we supposed to get to him?" Susan demanded. "If Crowley used that machine to take them both there then what can we do? Without the machine we have no way of finding Caspian again!"

Edmund couldn't stand the desperate note in his sister's voice. He spoke quickly before she could continue. "The professor's rings," he said the moment she paused for breath. "The ones Caspian wrote about in _The Magician and His Nephew_. We can use them to get to the Woods Between the Worlds. From there we can find the pool that leads to whatever world Crowley took Caspian to."

Peter frowned. "But . . . didn't the professor say there are hundreds of pools all leading to different worlds?"

Edmund nodded grimly. "We'll have to use trial and error I'm afraid. I'm sorry but I can't think of any other way. I know that even this idea is a long shot but right now it's all I can come up with."

"There's another problem," Lucy said hesitantly. "What if . . . what if we picked the wrong pool and ended up in Narnia? Aslan has forbidden us from going back."

"I know." Edmund grimaced. "Which is why we'll need to get help from the only two Friends of Narnia who are still allowed to go back – so they can check out the worlds before we enter and make sure we don't inadvertently end up back in Narnia."

"But who –" Susan started to ask then stopped in midsentence as she realized.

It seemed to sink in for Peter at the exact same moment. "Oh hell."

"Yeah," Edmund said. "We're going to need Eustace and Jill."

End of Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this newest chapter. Double thanks to everyone who left me feedback including: Greyhound Master, , merlyn2, flyingdragonx123, maggie, maristelle, NorthernLights25, garnetred, Miniver, Sakura123, moony, and books4evah

Rhyselle and mcasey4 – I wasn't sure how much background info to put into the exposition. I'm glad you think I pulled it off well. Thank you for your insight.

mae-E – Wow, I've never seen so many question marks in one review before, lol. I'll do my best to explain everything in subsequent chapters.

Chapter 4 should be up next Friday.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Classes were still in session at Experiment House and would be until the end of the week, so Lucy and Susan had to resort to waiting outside the fence that marked the school's boundaries, hoping to get a glimpse of Eustace and Jill in between classes or during lunch or recess.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Susan muttered for the tenth time that morning, as she and Lucy stood in the cold, stomping their feet and breathing on their hands to stay warm. "Asking Eustace for help. Asking _Jill_ for help." Her voice took on a disgusted note as she said the younger girl's name.

Lucy didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. "Without them we risk disobeying Aslan," she reminded her sister.

"We wouldn't intentionally be disobeying him," Susan said stubbornly. "I think he would forgive us."

"Of course he would forgive us," Lucy said, "but I don't want to do something that I'd need his forgiveness for, even unintentionally."

Susan was quiet for a few moments. "Maybe we should just ask Eustace to help us with this," she said finally. "This is a family problem, after all. There's no need to get Jill involved."

"Are you still mad that she fancies Caspian?" Lucy asked exasperatedly. "How many times must we tell you, you don't have anything to worry about?"

"I'm not worried," Susan said irritably. "I just don't like her and don't see why we're including her in this."

"She's a friend of Eustace, a friend of Caspian, and a friend of Narnia," Lucy said. "Aslan thinks her worthy. Who are we to disagree?"

"She was worthy of the task he set out for her. That doesn't make her worthy for this," Susan argued. "She's not a fighter – the one time she killed a man she threw up."

"She saved your life," Lucy reminded her. "She's someone we can count on. So what if she's attracted to Caspian? So is every other unmarried woman in England and more than a handful what are already wed."

_"You_ don't go about making sheep's eyes at him," Susan pointed out.

"That's because Caspian is practically my brother," Lucy said. She paused for a moment, uncertain if she should say what was on her mind or not then finally decided to speak. "I think he was planning on making it official."

Susan looked at her sharply. "What?"

"Two weeks ago when he escorted me when I went Christmas shopping . . . He stopped in front of a jewelry store and stared inside like he was lost in thought."

Susan looked like she wasn't quite certain what to make of this. "Perhaps he was thinking of purchasing something inside as a gift for either me or you or even Mum."

"If that was the case then he wouldn't have blushed when he saw that I was watching him," Lucy said, trying not to smirk. "He also inquired as to when Dad would be home and hinted he had something he wanted to discuss with him."

"Which could be any number of things," Susan said.

"Or it could be that he wants to ask Daddy's permission for your hand." Lucy couldn't quite keep the excitement out of her voice.

The look on Susan's face was somewhere between hopeful and desperate. She opened her mouth to speak but whatever she was going to say was lost as a familiar voice split the silence.

"Lucy? Susan?" Jill asked from right beside them.

Both girls jumped and turned to stare at Jill who stood not three feet away, but on the other side of the wire fence.

"What are you doing here?" Jill asked. "Is everything okay?"

Lucy and Susan traded glances. "Not really," Susan said, making on obvious effort not to be frosty to Jill.

"Caspian's missing," Lucy elaborated. "We think he may have been kidnapped –"

"We know he was kidnapped," Susan corrected.

"It is almost certain that he is being held against his will," Lucy amended, "and we need your help."

"Me?" Jill squeaked.

"Yes, you and Eustace," Susan said. She sounded like admitting it hurt her teeth. "Where is he?"

"I'll go get him," Jill said, and turned around and took off. Several minutes later she returned at a dead run, struggling to keep up with Eustace. The two Experiment House students skidded to a stop in front of the fence and Eustace put his hands up against the wire and brought his face closer to it so that he could peer through at Lucy and Susan.

"Cousin Susan! Cousin Lucy! I say, what are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

Lucy had hoped Jill would fill him in on the way back so that she'd be able to spare making Susan listen to the grim truth again. "Caspian's missing," she told him. "We think he's being held against his will in another world."

"Another world? What, like in Narnia?"

"That's impossible," Jill said. "Caspian can't go back to Narnia."

"I say, she's right! Caspian died there – twice. If he went back he'd be a ghost. He said as much himself. Not only that, but I suppose that would constitute as him dying a third time which would be bloody bad luck for him but –"

"Eustace," Lucy said, wishing that Peter or Edmund was there to deal with him, but deciding that in their absence she was the better choice between her and her sister. "Shut up."

"Ah! Right. Bloody sorry – I didn't mean nothing by that –"

"If he's not in Narnia," Jill interrupted, "then what world is he in?"

"We don't know," Susan said tightly, "and that's why we need your help."

"We're going to use the rings that Professor Kirke used to get to the Woods Between the Worlds," Lucy said. "Then we're going to use trial and error until we find which one he's in."

"But aren't there supposed to be hundreds of pools?" Jill asked doubtfully.

"Yes, there are, but if you have a better plan to find him then let's hear it!" Susan snapped. Jill cringed.

"Well, I can't think of anything," Eustace said and tightened his grip on the fence. "Right-O. Well, no time like the present to get started." He began clumsily climbing up the wire.

"Scrubb! What are you doing?" Jill demanded.

Eustace looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. "Going to help my cousins," he said. "Going to help find Caspian. Come on, Pole, it's an adventure!"

"But . . . but what do they need our help for?" Jill asked meekly.

"To make sure they don't end up in Narnia, of course!" Eustace said.

Lucy tried not to look surprised that her daft cousin had figured that out all on his own.

"They need us to check each world before they investigate to make sure they don't end up in Narnia and disobey Aslan. I say! It doesn't take a nuclear-physicist-person to figure it out Pole. Pull yourself together and come on!" Eustace continued.

"You're sure that it's all right for you to just . . . drop everything and come with us like this?"

"We have afternoon classes," Jill reminded Eustace.

"Hang afternoon classes!" Eustace declared, now from the top of the fence. "This is Caspian we're talking about. I can't believe you of all people would let something like that stand in your way. Didn't you tell me that you thought Caspian was positively –"

"You're right, you're right!" Jill said hastily to cut off whatever quote of hers Eustace was about to share. "I'm coming!"

Lucy cut her gaze to Susan and saw her sister's eyes were narrowed dangerously.

"Do you need to get anything from your dormitories?" Lucy asked, more because she needed to say something to keep Susan from snapping at Jill than because she thought that they would actually need something from their school dorms.

"No, but I will need to stop by Alberta and Harold's house to pick up something of the utmost importance," Eustace said as he dropped down to stand beside his cousins.

_His sword, no doubt,_ Lucy thought and nodded. "What about you, Jill?"

"My house is too far away," Jill said regretfully. "I'll have to make do without my bow."

"Where are Cousin Peter and Cousin Edmund?" Eustace asked, looking around as though he thought Susan and Lucy might be hiding them somewhere. "They are coming with us, aren't they? I say, if they were to duck out of this when Pole and I are game –"

"They went to get the rings," Susan said curtly. "Then they're going to meet us back at our house."

"They're probably already there waiting," Lucy said. "In fact –"

She was cut off by a shriek from above. Jill was dangling precariously from the fence, clutching the wires with only one hand, but that was not the problem. The fence wasn't so tall that she'd be injured if she just dropped down as Eustace had done, but somehow Jill had managed to catch the tail of her coat on in the wires of the fence and was now stuck.

"I say, Pole! What've you gone and done now?" Eustace demanded.

"My coat's caught," Jill cried. "I can't reach it without letting go of the fence and if I let go I'll fall and it will rip!"

"Hang on, then," Eustace said and started back up the fence. "Really, Pole, you ought to be more careful. At least it's not your skirt caught on the fence this time. Last time we snuck out it was bad," he told his cousins. "Jill's skirt got caught on the wires up top, but got caught in the back. She ended up with a dreadful rip that –"

"Scrubb," Jill said crossly, "shut up."

"Ah, right. Well hey, it's not as bad as the time that you –"

Whatever time it wasn't as bad as Lucy and Susan didn't get a chance to hear. Jill lost her grip on the fence just as Eustace reached her and shrieked. Eustace tried grab her but her weight combined with the momentum of her fall proved too much for Eustace and he ended up tumbling off the fence after her. They ended up on the ground in a tangle of limbs with Eustace on top of Jill. As soon as they realized the position they were in they began hastily trying to detangle themselves, but each one's movements foiled the other's and so they ended up jabbing and elbowing each other several times before Eustace managed to get off of Jill.

At any other time Lucy would have been tempted to laugh at their red faces and the token glares they were directing toward each other, but with Caspian missing and the grave task that was before them, Jill and Eustace's antics didn't seem as funny as they usually did.

"Come on," Susan snapped. "We're wasting time."

"She's right," Jill said, her expression falling slightly. "Let's go."

X

X

X

AN: Thank you everyone who read and reviewed last chapter including: , HeadBangGirl, Lara86, Princess4Caspian.

Merlyn2 – You raised some good points about the rings in your last review. Aslan did tell Polly and Digory to bury them so no one could use them again, but since they were planning to use them in The Last Battle I think that the characters must have believed it would be okay. I hope this ambiguity and the liberties I've taken with it won't detract too much from this story for you.

Greyhound Master – Hoping that Eustace will discover tact is a lost cause. Wait until you hear what he really wanted to get from his house in the next chapter.

maristelle – Daniel Pevensie won't be a main character in this story but he will be in it a little bit near the end.

mae-E – Thanks for your interest and all your questions. I will do my best to answer them all in the story (if I answered them all in my AN there'd be no need to write the rest of the story, lol).

Lavendar, NorthernLights25, Alana, and garnetred – I'm glad that you enjoy this story enough that you're eager to read more. I'll do my best to keep updating at least once a week all summer. My schedule is packed until the end of August, but starting in September I will make every attempt to start updating twice a week since you guys asked for it. You have no idea how happy it makes me when people actually want to read what I write, lol.

In next week's chapter the Pevensies are reunited and some good ideas are shared, as well as one not so good idea that Eustace has come up with.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Edmund's plan to retrieve the rings worked flawlessly. He and Peter went to the house Professor Kirke had grown up in on the other side of London and arrived very early in the morning. They wore work clothes so that they'd seem less suspicious than they would have if they'd dressed in all black, like burglars, but their precautions turned out to be unnecessary. Not a single person walked or drove by the house while they were digging up the rings.

The professor hadn't been able to remember exactly how many rings he and Polly had buried, but Edmund and Peter managed to unearth seven pairs without much difficulty. They picked the rings up with gloves on so that they could avoid taking any impromptu trips to the Woods with no return ticket and put them all in a cloth bag.

When they arrived back at their house Susan and Lucy had already left to go to Experiment House and get Eustace and Jill. They had a long wait before their sisters returned so they used the time to prepare for their quest. There was quite a bit to be done. Peter gathered supplies from around the house while Edmund inspected and maintained the weapons that they would be taking with them.

Last year, at Christmas, Professor Kirke had given them all pieces from his collection. They were mainly weapons that his father had brought back from India that had never seen use in battle before their brief skirmish at his old house with the White Witch. Despite that, all of them were battle worthy. Edmund just made sure that each blade had a sharp edge and each bowstring was sound. Peter's sword Rhindon was in perfect condition, as always. Lucy's dagger was a bit dull on one side and Susan's primary bowstring was a bit frayed at one end. Thankfully, her spare was in good condition.

When he was certain that the weapons that he and his siblings would be carrying, as well as Caspian's sword, were battle ready, and Peter had not yet finished collecting all the rest of the supplies they would need, Edmund went upstairs, to his parents' room.

His father kept a spare gun under his bed, secured to the wooden slats beneath the mattress with a leather strap. Daniel Pevensie had taught all of his children and Caspian how to shoot after learning all they'd been through and made sure they were comfortable with all of his guns. Edmund sometimes wondered what all his father had seen to make him so wary that he kept a gun within reach even when he was sleeping. The Pevensie children had seen quite a bit over the course of their adventures, but none of them felt the need to be armed at all times . . . but perhaps that was because most of the dangers they'd faced had been in Narnia, not in their home world.

But whatever Daniel's reasons, Edmund was glad that he'd left the PPK and made sure that his children knew where to find it if the need to use it arose. He'd debated with himself about whether or not to mention the fact that he intended to bring the gun to his siblings and in the end decided against it. Taking it along with them was practical. Though it was true that shooting an opponent armed with only a sword wouldn't be the most honorable action, they had no way of knowing how well any enemies they encountered would be armed. It wasn't out of the question that Crowley himself might be in possession of a gun after all.

Peter might be hesitant to even bring the gun along, and Edmund knew that Lucy would balk over it even though she was the best shot of all four Pevenise children. He wasn't sure how Susan would react. Normally she'd probably have reservations, but since it was Caspian's life at stake he thought she would probably be okay with it. Still, he decided it was better not to risk an argument and that less problems would be caused if he brought it along without asking anyone's permission. He made sure it was loaded then wrapped it in oil cloth and tucked it inside his jacket then got the two spare clips out of the false bottom of his father's sock drawer and stashed them in his pocket.

When he got back down to the kitchen Peter had finished gathering the rest of their gear. He was arranging it into piles on the half of the table that wasn't covered in weapons, making sure that each one had a Zippo lighter, a coil of rope, a canteen, and some C-rations. Other items, like a med kit, several blankets, and a battery powered torch were distributed based on how much they weighed, how much space they took up, how many they needed to bring, and who would be carrying them. Peter offered his brother a dry smile as he walked back into the room.

"I don't think we've ever been so well prepared for a trip to another world," he said as he lifted a bundle of gardening stakes onto the table.

"We've never, ever been prepared for trips to other worlds," Edmund said. The corner of his mouth tugged in a mirthless smile and he dropped a leather bag onto the table top – his excuse for having gone upstairs. "I made these last night," he said and tugged on the string so that Peter could see what was inside. "I'm a little proud of them."

Peter peered into the bag quizzically then fished out one of the pieces of twisted metal. "What are these?"

"Caltrops," Edmund said. "You scatter them on the ground when you want to slow down enemies. When they fall one of the spikes always points up. Anyone who steps on one is sure to regret it."

Peter tested the sharp edge of one of the wires and winced as it pricked his finger and drew blood. "Nasty," he commented.

Edmund nodded, accepting the compliment. "Caspian explained them to me. He said they were particularly useful against the giants in the north."

"Pity we never thought to use something like them," Peter said and dropped the caltrop he'd been looking at back into the bag.

"We've got them now," Edmund said. He tightened the drawstring and tied the bag to his belt. "Since we're going in blind we need every advantage we can get."

Peter shook his head ruefully. "You always were my best tactician."

"Yet you always vetoed half my plans," Edmund reminded him. "Too ruthless, too nasty, too mean . . . You always were too nice."

"We were trying to force our enemies to surrender, not wipe them off the map."

It was an old argument that the brothers dusted off every now and then to good naturedly rehash, but its revival at that moment troubled Edmund. "And now?" he asked, a bit worried at how Peter would respond.

He was both relieved and disheartened when Peter's gaze hardened and his hand tightened into a fist. "Now we do whatever we have to do to get Caspian back," he said in a voice that he very rarely used – a tone that meant that anyone standing in his way would be cut down as swiftly and efficiently as possible without mercy factoring in at all.

While Edmund was glad that Peter was as gravely serious about the situation as he was, he wished that his brother didn't have to be. Peter always had been the nicer of the two brothers. He'd been a magnificent king with a magnificent heart. Edmund had only been just when he could afford to be – when the lives of those he cared about and those he was sworn to protect weren't in danger. It wasn't exactly something he was proud of but he wouldn't have tried to scrub that darkness out of his soul even if he could have.

They were spared from carrying their solemn conversation any further as the door opened and their sisters walked in, followed by Eustace and Jill.

"Hoy, cousins!" Eustace greeted them cheerfully. "Bloody good to see you again. Pity about the circumstances, though. Let's just hope that this plan of yours works and that it's not all for nothing – what with the way time is different between the worlds Caspian may well have been trapped wherever he is for years! He might even be dead of old age again by now –"

"Eustace," Peter said, his voice already saturated with aggravation even though Eustace had been in the room less than thirty seconds.

"Shut up," Edmund finished, resisting the powerful urge to beat some sense into his cousin.

"Oh! Right. Shutting up," Eustace said.

Edmund sighed and looked over his shoulder. "Hello again, Jill," he greeted the younger girl.

"Hi Edmund," Jill said, offering him a shy smile. "Hi Peter."

Peter nodded and picked up Rhindon.

"Thanks for coming," Edmund said. He glanced at her empty hands then at Eustace who had a pillowcase in his hands stuffed with objects of an indiscernible shape, then looked back at Jill. "I guess you weren't able to bring your bow," he deduced.

Jill shook her head. "I keep it at home. It would take too long to go get it."

Edmund nodded and lifted an extra dagger off the table – one his father had used during the war. "Take this instead then."

Jill hesitated.

"I know you're not big on fighting and I hope you don't have to use it," Edmund told her, "but we can't let you go without anything to help defend yourself with."

Jill nodded and accepted the knife from Edmund.

"What about me?" Eustace asked.

"What about you?" Peter asked.

"I need a weapon too," Eustace told them.

"What did we stop by your house for if not for you to get your sword?" Susan demanded.

Eustace shifted the bulky pillowcase into his other hand. "Something important . . . We will need it later on."

"Why didn't you get your sword?" Lucy asked irritably. "That's the reason we went to your home in the first place."

"I keep my sword in my dorm at school," Eustace said. "And I didn't think we'd have enough time to get it and make a clean escape before a teacher caught on to what we were doing."

Susan looked like she wanted to scream. Peter and Lucy both looked disgusted. Edmund, on the other hand, had kind of seen this coming. When he saw what Eustace was carrying his hunch had been confirmed. The pillowcase was large and stuffed quite full, but it still wasn't big enough to be holding the tulwar Professor Kirke had given him.

"Here," Edmund said, and tossed Eustace another of his father's daggers.

"Are we ready then?" Susan asked. She picked up her bow, clenching it so tightly that her knuckles paled.

"I think so," Peter said. "You explained the plan to them on the way here?"

"We explained everything," Lucy said. "I think we're about ready."

Peter assigned packs to each member of their group, reserving the lightest ones for Jill and Lucy, and taking the heaviest one for himself. Edmund took the next heaviest as well as the case of C-rations that they were planning to leave in the Woods then he poured the rings out onto the now-empty table.

"We tied each green ring to a gold ring with a piece of cord," he explained to everyone. "This way no one gets stuck in the Woods or any other world with no way back."

"Good thinking," Lucy said.

"Let's go," Susan said impatiently, and started to reach for one of the rings.

"Wait!"

Eustace's panicked yelp stopped her short.

"What?" she demanded, looking angry when she saw who'd interrupted her.

"You're forgetting something very important," Eustace told her, "something that I had the foresight to think of though, lucky for us."

"What?" Susan asked, looking like she'd rather cut out his tongue than humor him.

"How we're going to tell which world pools we've already tried," Eustace said.

"Actually," Lucy stared, "we already thought –"

"I realized this immediately which was why I insisted that we stop by my house first," Eustace said, "because I have come up with the perfect, foolproof system to keep us from trying the same pool twice. Behold!"

He upended the contents of his pillowcase on the opposite side of the table.

Everyone stared. For a moment Edmund was certain that he had to be seeing wrong. The tabletop couldn't be covered with dozens of yellow rubber ducks. It just couldn't. That was too ridiculous, too stupid, even for Eustace . . .

"You drug us to your house so you could get that ridiculous garbage yet you left your sword in your dormitory?!" Susan looked about ready to kill Eustace. "What kind of dunce are you?!"

Eustace looked genuinely taken aback. "I thought this was a good idea. After we try a pool we just set one of these ducks in it – it floats, so then we'll know if we see a duck in it that we already checked that one –"

"We already had that worked out! We're using garden stakes to mark the pools you try!" Susan raged. "Thank you, Eustace, for wasting our time. Thank you very much!"

"I thought I was helping," Eustace said.

Even Jill was shaking her head at Eustace's folly.

"I can't believe you!" Susan started again, but Peter cut her off.

"Enough," he said, stepping between Susan and the table full of rubber duckies, probably hoping that if she couldn't see the offending objects she would calm down, at least a little bit. "It was a dumb idea but we shouldn't waste any more time on it. Now we should go."

Susan gave a curt nod and stepped around Peter to grab one of the rings off the table. The moment she touched the yellow metal or whatever it was that the gold ring was made out of, she disappeared so suddenly, that even though Edmund knew what to expect it still came as a shock. Lucy and Eustace both stepped backward in surprise and Jill actually gave a slight squeal.

"It's okay," Edmund assured them, "as long as we follow her quickly. If Susan has to wait for us too long in the Woods then it won't be okay."

"Edmund's right," Peter said. "Let's go."

Edmund lifted the case of C-rations with one arm and grabbed one of the yellow rings. Then the world vanished around him.

End of Chapter Five

Historical Note: Much of the gear that Peter and Edmund packed was common during WWII. Zippo lighters became extremely popular with the Allies, especially after the US joined the war.

The gun that Edmund got from his father's room is actually one of German make – the Walther PPK (which is also the preferred gun of James Bond). They were a very popular war trophy along with Lugers and German daggers – so popular that there used to be laws against owning certain models that contained certain emblems in America since taking war trophies wasn't supposed to be legal (but I don't think anyone told that to my Grand-Dad). Happily, those laws no longer exist since WWII era guns are now considered heirlooms.

And yes, rubber ducks actually have been around that long. I did some research into them to make sure that Eustace's bright idea wasn't historically inaccurate. Apparently they weren't very popular until Sesame Street started airing, but they have existed since the early 1900s.

Author's Note

Thank you everyone who enjoyed this story enough to keep reading. Double thanks to everyone who reviewed including: garnetred, NorthernLights25, Lara86, maristelle, amber'eyed'countess, and HeadbangGirl

Greyhound Master, mae-E, and merlyn2 – I hope Eustace's great idea didn't disappoint. This was inspired by one of my friends who will often forgo doing something or bringing something important in favor of doing/getting something that's usually ridiculous and not very helpful. It's usually funny after we get past the inconvenience of it. She's never passed over a sword in favor of rubber ducks though . . .

and Ash12345 – Next chapter will feature an update on what happened to Caspian. It turns out that Eustace kind of had it backward in thinking that a lot of time has passed for Caspian while several days passed on earth.

Miniver – Don't worry, I believe in happy endings, just like Caspian . . . ultimately. And this probably sounds conceited but I like my plans for Susan better than CS Lewis'. To this day it still bothers me how he just dropped her off the map. And our heroes won't be making the trip to Narnia in this story but someone else will. I think you'll probably know it when you see it.

rthstewart – Eustace and Jill are fun to write because of their relationship with each other which can actually be interpreted several different ways in the books. Right now I'm mainly using this story as practice for writing sibling relationships because my current original project features a very complicated situation involving a sister and a brother who were separated as children and just reunited and then the brother's two foster siblings are added into the mix. But I think that I probably will be using Jill and Eustace as practice for writing an awkward romance in the future because I'm planning one of those in another original project soon.

Next chapter will be up next Friday, in which we find out what happened between Caspian and Crowley, and the Pevensies arrive in the Woods Between the Worlds and get a surprise.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Caspian groaned and opened his eyes to utter darkness. He blinked several times, hoping his vision would improve, but it was a futile effort. Everything was pitch black, so dark that he might as well have been blindfolded. He actually brought one hand up to his face to make sure that there was no such obstruction.

_Where am I?_ he wondered. It was hard to hear himself think over the ringing in his ears, and his head felt as though it was splitting open. _What happened?_

He forced himself to concentrate so that he wouldn't give in to the panic that was building in his chest. The darkness was oppressing and so thick that he was afraid he'd choke on it and suffocate if he let his mind dwell on it.

_I met Crowley at the pub . . . he wanted to talk about alchemic equations and paraphysics . . . whatever those are. But something was wrong . . . There were those two men with hooded cloaks who kept their faces completely covered . . ._ Caspian had zeroed in on them the moment he walked into the tavern. Perhaps it wasn't fair to Aleister Crowley, but Caspian had gone in treating the situation as a potentially hostile one, noting every person of suspicion the moment he entered. It seemed now that his suspicions hadn't been unwarranted.

_Crowley wanted to have a discussion about paraphysics and alchemic equations. I told him I wasn't qualified for that . . . then the conversation turned toward philosophy . . . _That was when Caspian had decided to leave. Crowley's sense of morality seemed . . . nonexistent. He spoke, "hypothetically," about human sacrifices and what ethical boundaries should be breached in the pursuit of higher learning, reminding Caspian strongly of how Professor Kirke described his Uncle Andrew.

Something stung me as I stood to leave . . . Caspian put one hand on the side of his left calf and winced as his fingers hit a ginger spot. _A dart. One of those hooded bastards! It must have had some sort of toxin on it . . . So they knocked me out and drug me here . . . wherever here is . . ._

Caspian used the senses available to him to try to get a handle on where he was. The floor beneath him was stone. Not cut stone like the floors of a castle, though. It felt like it was all one piece . . . like he was in a cave. The cool damp air gave another point to that theory, as did the way his voice sounded when he managed to force a few syllables out of his dry mouth.

"Is anyone there?"

There was no response. Caspian swallowed and tried to fight off a wave of dizziness.

"Damn . . . it . . ."

Unconsciousness was beckoning once again. Caspian tried to resist it – he really did. He wanted to find out where he was and how to get out of there, but the oblivion of sleep seemed merciful compared to his current harsh reality. His last conscious thought was a prayer that when he woke up his nightmare would have ended.

#

Edmund spluttered as he reached the surface of the pool, only to inhale a giant gulp of water as Eustace dragged him under.

"Damn it, worthless cousin!" Edmund snapped as he surfaced again, after shoving said cousin away from him. Eustace found someone else to grab onto to keep himself afloat – someone even less able to keep herself up than him. "And let go of Jill!"

He grabbed the younger children and pulled them apart, treading water with his feet like mad to keep himself from going under again.

"Peter!" he called when Eustace began flailing violently. "A little help here?"

Peter grabbed Eustace by the back of his collar, leaving Edmund with the much more docile Jill. She clung to him like a python, almost frozen from the fear of going under again.

_At least it makes her easier to tow through the water, _Edmund through dryly.

Lucy lent him a helping hand as he reached the shore while Susan assisted Peter in getting Eustace out of the pool.

"We're all here then?" Peter asked, after unceremoniously dumping Eustace on the ground.

"All six of us," Lucy answered, even as she wrung water out of her clothing.

"So this is the Woods Between the Worlds," Edmund mused. He took a moment to look over their surroundings. A moment was all it took for him to know for sure that they weren't in any normal forest.

The trees were all ancient, so thick around that it seemed chopping one down would take days. Their leaves formed a canopy overhead that let through only just enough light to see clearly – it reminded Edmund of dawn, right before the sun rose enough to fully dispel the night's gray haze. Of course it was impossible to tell how high the sun was above the trees, assuming there was a sun in the sky at all. It could have been a bright moon or a sky full of bright stars that was casting light for all he knew.

Looking around on his own level, as far as he could see in every direction there were only ancient trees, mirror smooth pools of water, and a carpet of moss-like grass. A little bit of mist hung in the air, not enough to really veil anything, just enough to make things look peaceful and dreamy.

But none of those were what gave away the fact that the woods weren't part of any forest on earth. Nor was it the fact that everything was far too silent to be natural. No, it was something else. Something deeper that Edmund couldn't describe even though he felt it in his very bones.

"This place is so saturated in magic, I'm surprised we can even breathe the air here," Lucy whispered, breaking the heavy silence.

It was only then that Edmund realized that they'd all stopped talking to just take in their surroundings. He blinked several times rapidly and forced himself to focus.

"Remember what the professor said about this place," Susan said before Edmund himself could. "This place is unnatural and it makes people tired. If we drift off here we might not be able to wake up by ourselves."

"Right," Peter said. He knelt and began opening one of the packs that the girls had set on the ground. "Let's get to work then."

Edmund got the skein of red string out of Jill's bag and tied one end off around the closest tree – it took several meters to wind it all the way around the tree's trunk. He kept the line taught and moved to the next closest tree, then the next, making a circle around the pool that led to earth. Lucy followed him, tying brightly colored handkerchiefs to the line to make it as visible as possible, even from far away. Peter drove a tomato stake into the ground right beside the water as extra insurance.

"Good thinking," Eustace commented. "Making this pool stand out. And I suppose those smaller stakes are the ones you mentioned earlier? Mind you, I like my rubber duckie idea better –"

"Eustace," Peter said exasperatedly.

"You know what we're going to say, by now," Edmund growled. "Or at least you should."

"So save your breath so we can save ours," Peter finished.

"Right-o. Shutting up," Eustace said, snapping to a salute.

"Make yourself useful and grab that bundle of stakes," Susan told him as she hefted her own pack and ducked under the string. "You and Jill can get started with the world- scouting while they're taking care of that."

"Right you are!" Eustace said, striking what he probably thought was a gallant pose. "I don't care if we have to try every pool in this entire bloody wood! I swear to you, Cousin Susan, we'll find Caspian and bring him –"

"Look!" Lucy's cry cut Eustace's dramatic speech off at its knees. "Edmund! Peter! Susan, look!"

Edmund hurried over to see what his sister was so excited about. The moment he set eyes on her discovery he felt that same excitement building in himself as well. Not just excitement – also relief and gratitude.

In the thin layer of dew that covered the carpet of grass, there was a clearly visible set of footprints. Well not footprints – paw prints. Very large lion paw prints.

"Thank you, Aslan," Susan whispered, her voice shaky. It was obvious, to her siblings at least, that she was trying hard not to cry. Edmund started to move toward her but stopped when Peter put a comforting hand on their sister's shoulder – it was better not to crowd Susan, he knew. She didn't handle sorrow well alone, but handled it even worse when too many people were pressing in on her.

"Well, now I think we know which way to go," Lucy said cheerfully, stepping between Susan and where Eustace and Jill were standing so that they wouldn't venture too close to Susan.

"Hold, just a moment," Edmund said quickly. He retrieved the skein of red cord from the ground where he'd set it and began unraveling it to get a head start on the length that they'd need. "All right," he said when he had a sizeable amount of string pooled on the ground before him.

"Let's go," Peter said. His voice was different than it had been moments before too – stronger and braver.

_It's amazing what a single sign from Aslan does to us,_ Edmund thought as they began following the trail of footprints. _With him on our side no one should even bother going against us._

It was a long walk – Edmund had actually begun to fear that he would run out of string – but finally, they reached the right pool. They knew it was the right one because another sign was waiting for them right at the water's edge. A collection of objects piled together and covered with dew. They looked as though they had always been there, even though they all appeared to be in perfect working order.

"My bow!" Susan cried, quickly kneeling to retrieve it. She hugged it to herself, eyes shining. "It's the same one that Father Christmas gave me," she whispered, running her hand over its wooden stave. "I thought I'd never see it again."

It wasn't just her bow either – there was also the shield that Father Christmas had given Peter at the same time as Rhindon, and the cordial he gave Lucy that could cure any injury or ailment with a single drop, and . . .

"My torch!" Edmund snatched up the flashlight that he'd lost on a previous trip to Narnia. He quickly turned it on and grinned as the beam shone brightly, then turned it off again to save the battery. "I never expected to see this again either," he said.

"I say!" Eustace sounded indignant, "Nothing for Pole or I?"

"Pole or _me_," Jill corrected him absently.

"What?" Eustace looked at her oddly.

"Nothing for Pole or _me_," Jill told him. "The way you said it was grammatically incorrect."

Eustace scowled then turned to Peter and Edmund. "Well," he said expectantly.

"Well what?" Peter asked.

"Aren't you going to tell Pole to shut up?" he demanded.

Edmund exchanged looks with his brother then as one they both smirked and gave Eustace his answer. "No."

"That's not fair! You have the same amount of seniority over both of us and should treat us equally since she and _me_ are the same age!"

"She and _I_," Jill said helpfully.

Eustace made an infuriated sound in the back of his throat.

Peter, Edmund and Lucy all laughed out loud. Susan shook her head, but she was trying hard to hide a smile too, Edmund saw.

"Jill," Peter said at last.

"You're awesome," Edmund finished.

Jill grinned at them as Eustace kicked at the ground around the pool. Then he started violently trying to pound a stake into the ground with his bare fist.

"Shouldn't we be going?" he asked irritably. "To find Caspian and all?"

"We're going," Susan said, looking better than she had since Caspian went missing. She bowed her head and closed her eyes as though in prayer. "Aslan watch over us," she whispered.

And when she opened her eyes again, all the light in them that had started to fade over the past few days was back and brighter than ever.

End of Chapter Six

X

Grammatical Note: I've always found that one of the fastest ways to annoy someone is to correct their grammar when they're trying to have an argument with you. Jill makes good use of this technique here, exploiting Eustace's slip into a common grammatical mistake – one that's so common that my elementary school teachers actually taught it wrong. The easiest way to avoid this one is to repeat the sentence in your mind but make it only about yourself, then see if it sounds right. ie: "Nothing for I?" doesn't sound right, while "Nothing for me?" does sound right. It's the same with the other example: "I am the same age," sounds right where as "Me is/am the same age," sounds wrong. So that's the easy way to figure out whether or not someone's making this grammatical mistake, but this explanation isn't an attempt to force you to improve your grammar. It's just in case anyone was confused as to why Eustace's grammar was wrong in each case.

End of grammatical note.

AN: Thank you everyone for coming back this week and reading this newest chapter. Double thanks to everyone who reviewed, including: Lara86, Greyhound Master, maristelle,

HeadBangGirl, merlyn2 – What Lewis did with Susan was always my least favorite part of the series. It always made me so sad thinking about her, left on earth, having lost everyone and everything. I think everyone who's read the books wanted that changed at some point or another. Back in middle school I read every fic I could find that dealt with that, lol. It's been awhile since then. Next time I have some free time I think I'll read a few more.

Autumnia and garnetred – Thank you for taking the time to review. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I'm working on curbing Susan's impatience a bit now that they're on the right track and I think she's mature enough to realize what's helpful and what isn't – I just thought that she could afford to be short tempered in their mission's preliminary stages so I let her.

Miniver and rthstewart – I liked Eustace's idea too, lol. Not as practical as the stakes, but a lot more fun and makes a better mental picture.

– Thank you very much for the feedback on my characterization. I'm using quite a few of the characters here to help me figure out which of their interactions work well so that I can apply what I learn to my original work. Your comment was very useful.

Mae-E – Your last deduction was correct. It might be a little confusing now, but I'll be clarifying later that even though close to a week has passed for the Pevensies much less time has passed for Caspian.

jxr1 – Right now I will be updating this story every Friday. I'm glad you like Walk This World enough to read this story too – I hadn't originally planned on writing a sequel, but sometimes the best ideas come when you think you've run out. I will try my best to make In All The Worlds live up to its predecessor, and I promise not to abandon this story in the middle and leave it only half finished.

Next week the stakes are raised as the Pevensies and co search for Caspian in a world more savage than Narnia or earth.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Susan blinked. The world before her was like nothing she'd expected.

Of course her experience in world travel wasn't extensive. The only world other than earth that she'd ever been to was Narnia. Most of Narnia had a temperate climate. The deserts in the south and Calormen were the notable exceptions – after the White Witch's spell was broken of course. Before that the entire world had been trapped in what might as well have been an ice age. Either way, Susan was used to mild springs followed by warm summers – not the oppressive heat that was bearing down on her at that very moment.

"I say!" Eustace spoke first. "It's bloody hot!"

"I guess we won't be needing all the blankets and such that we packed," Jill said and started to shrug off her pack.

"Better to have and not need then want and not have," Peter told her. "Unless it becomes necessary to leave our gear behind, we keep all of it."

"But it's heavy," Eustace protested. "The more we exert ourselves the more we sweat and in this bloody rainforest dehydration might become a problem."

Peter and Edmund traded glances. Susan could tell what they were thinking. Eustace did have a point.

"We should hang onto them until tonight, at least," Edmund said at last. "We don't know how the temperature will change once the sun goes down."

"Rainforest, Cousin, rainforest," Eustace said. "Hot, humid, water hanging in the air. It's not going to get cold like a desert, for goodness' sake!"

"We might need them for something else," Edmund said. "Carrying them one day won't cause any problems. We have plenty of water and if we have to we can send someone back to the woods to fill our canteens."

"Enough talk," Susan said as Eustace opened his mouth again. "If you don't think you can keep up you're welcome to go home at any time."

"I didn't say that I wouldn't do it," Eustace said quickly, "I just don't think it's necessary."

"Don't think. You might hurt yourself and you're already dead weight as it is."

"Susan," Lucy said, disapproval in her voice.

Susan felt a stab of remorse and averted her eyes.

"We came here to find Caspian," Edmund said before an awkward silence could set in. "But here we are just standing around."

"We should start moving," Peter agreed, pulling out his compass. "Well, this world at least has a magnetic north. As long as we keep walking in one direction we should find something eventually – a road or a river that should lead us to civilization."

Edmund walked up to a tree with a nest of mangled roots that were even taller than he was. He vaulted up on top of one root so that he could get to the tree's trunk then rapped on it with his knuckles as though he was knocking on a door. "Hoy!" he said. "Anyone alive in there?"

"What is he doing?" Jill asked, looking bemused.

"Making sure that the tree isn't a Tree," Lucy told her.

"Of course the tree's a tree," Eustace said.

"She means a wise-tree," Peter clarified. "One that's sentient and has a soul."

"Why didn't you just say that then?"

"It's not one," Edmund told them, taking out his knife. He slashed an X into the tree bark. "This is so we know where we came into this world. If we get separated and have to use the rings as an escape line we can either regroup here, in this world, or in the Woods if we all leave."

After that they started walking. Susan wasn't sure which direction Peter picked, but didn't much care. He kept an eye on the compass so that they didn't end up walking in circles, which was all Susan really cared about as far as their direction was concerned. They had no idea where to go, after all. It was a daunting thought but not as intimidating as it could have been – if not for Aslan's intervention they wouldn't have even known if they were searching the right world or not.

It was, by no means, an easy trek. There was no path. Or to be more precise, there was no path before they made one. They had to bushwhack their way through miles of tangled undergrowth that ranged anywhere from their knees to their necks in height. Peter and Edmund alternated point, hacking away the worst of the plant matter before them with their swords – or their knives when it was easier. They didn't even come close to making it easy to follow them. That would have been impossible. The best they could really do was to hack through vines and branches that were directly in their way, and to clear away the worst of the plants with thorns and spines.

Jill, Lucy, and Eustace had a hard time, though Peter and Edmund seemed tireless. Susan thought that she would probably have been exhausted under any normal circumstances, but the knowledge that every step she took brought her closer to Caspian gave her reserves of strength that she never knew she had.

_Crowley is going to wish he never stood between me and the one I love,_ Susan vowed.

Gradually, darkness began to fall. The thick canopy of leaves kept the travelers from being able to tell exactly when the sun started to dip below the unseen horizon, but little by little the light that made it through waned until it was obvious that they wouldn't be able to go much further that night.

"I say, isn't it about time we made camp?" Eustace asked.

"Shut up a second," Edmund said sharply.

Everyone looked at him oddly. That was the first time Eustace had spoken in about an hour, since apparently talking while bushwhacking proved to be too difficult for him.

"Listen," Edmund said when he saw their strange gazes.

Recognizing the intent look on his face, Susan realized that something of significance was afoot. She strained her ears and tried to hear whatever it is that had caught her brother's attention. It wasn't easy. Forest sounds were the main thing that she heard – strange insects, the occasional bird call, and the rustle of the leaves overhead as the wind stirred them. But beyond that there was something else . . . something Susan couldn't quite put a finger on until Lucy announced it.

"Water," Lucy said excitedly. She actually jumped up and down despite the fatigue that shadowed her face. "It's running water!"

"I don't hear anything," Jill said doubtfully.

"I do! I do!" Eustace didn't seem at all put out now. "It's water! A river! Or at least a stream! Hell, it might even be the ocean!"

"It's not," Peter told him. "We'd smell the salt if it were."

"A river then! A river is still bloody good!"

"Yeah, it is," Edmund agreed.

"Which way is it, Ed?" Peter asked. "You've got the best ears, it seems."

Edmund brought his finger to his lips motioning for them to fall silent again, then he closed his eyes. A moment later he opened them. "This way, I think," he said and pointed.

It turned out that he thought right. Not five minutes later the Pevensies, Eustace, and Jill stood on muddy bank of a river, listening to the melody of rushing water.

"Can we see about these packs now?" Jill asked, dropping hers where the riverbank gave way to the underbrush. "They're soooooo heavy."

"Yeah," Eustace agreed. "We should get rid of the stuff we don't need."

"Not really sure what you guys are complaining about," Edmund said, but he had a good natured look on his face. "Peter and I were the ones carrying all the cold weather gear we packed."

Jill and Eustace exchanged glances and looked chagrined.

"We can probably leave a few blankets here," Lucy suggested. "If we're making camp here then we'll need to put them down so we don't get covered in mud."

_Crack._

Susan heard the noise, soft as it was, but would have written it off if Edmund's head hadn't snapped up.

_Crunch. _The rustle of plant matter caught Peter's attention this time. He froze then looked at Edmund.

"Something's coming," Edmund said softly. He dropped his pack and drew his sword. Peter followed suit. Susan quickly pulled out her bow and notched an arrow on the string as Jill struggled to string the one that Susan had loaned her after finding her old one in the Woods.

"What's going on?" Eustace asked, oblivious to the potential danger.

"Shh!" both Peter and Edmund tried to shush their cousin.

"What?" Eustace asked. "I don't hear any –"

Before Eustace could finish his sentence a feral battle cry split the air and half a dozen humanoid shapes barreled out of the darkness.

One of them fell immediately, Susan's arrow lodged in its throat. Susan hurried to set another arrow to her string. When she raised her bow again her heart leaped into her throat as she realized that one of the creatures was nearly on top of her. She got a glimpse of blazing red eyes and slavering yellow teeth, then her arrow hit it point blank and dropped it in mid-lunge. Only a quick dodge kept her from being pinned beneath its dead weight.

She heard the sound of metal grating against metal as her brothers engaged two of the other creatures. Even as she turned toward her younger brother one of the beasts fell at his feet. Edmund vaulted over its carcass and actually kicked off it as though it was a springboard to cut down another monster that was trying to circle Lucy, only just staying back far enough to keep out of her dagger's range.

A scream split the air – a human one, that is. Susan saw Jill hit the ground out the corner of her eye and swore aloud as she fumbled for another arrow. The younger girl was on the other side of the camp, too far away for Edmund to get to in time, too far away from Peter even if he wasn't still locked in combat with the only other monster still capable of standing. Susan didn't even see Eustace.

Before Susan was able to get another arrow on her bowstring a thunderclap split the air. It was so loud that Susan actually felt her ears pop and then when sound returned everything else – the gurgle of the monster choking on its own blood, the hollow thud as its body hit the ground, the mouse-like squeaks of Jill whimpering – they all seemed muted. For a moment Susan wasn't sure what had happened. She looked up and saw the creature that had been about to maul Jill. It was on the ground convulsing. Another thud followed by Peter exhaling in triumph indicated that he'd dispatched of the last creature. Susan looked over her shoulder toward her other two siblings and saw Edmund's grim expression. His sword was stuck in the ground, point down, at an odd angle as though he'd dropped it without really caring how it landed. A small, metal object glinted black in the dim light, still cradled in his hands and aimed at the monster, ready to shoot it again if it had the audacity to cling to life.

It was only then that Susan realized that that thunderclap had actually been a gunshot.

"Jill!" Eustace scrambled forward and dropped to the ground beside his friend. "Jill, are you all right? Speak to me!"

Jill looked at him then looked at the dead creature not four feet away from her. Her eyes made their way to Edmund who still had the gun trained on the thing. "I'm fine," Jill whispered.

"You brought Dad's gun?" Peter asked incredulously, the moment he realized what had happened.

Finally, Edmund lowered the weapon and clicked the safety on. "I did."

"What did you do that for?" Peter demanded. "That – taking a gun to another world –"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time. And you know it still does." Edmund unclipped the holster from the inner waistline of his trousers and put the PPK back in it.

Peter looked like he wasn't quite sure what to say. "You – Dad –"

"I didn't think he'd mind," Edmund said. "He taught us how to use it so we could defend ourselves."

"Still, it doesn't seem . . ."

"Honorable?" Susan asked. "Hang honor. Anyone who stands between us and Caspian deserves whatever they get. Besides, if he hadn't brought it, Jill might be dead right now."

"I am very glad he brought it," Jill piped up.

"I didn't say he was wrong to bring it," Peter told them. "I just . . . you should have said something, Edmund."

Edmund raised an eyebrow. "So we could have had a debate about it?"

Peter sighed. "Never mind . . . nice shot, by the way . . ."

"Thanks." Edmund held the gun out to Lucy, handle first. "You should hang on to this," he told his younger sister.

Lucy hesitated.

"Just because you have it doesn't mean you have to use it."

"All right," Lucy acquiesced.

"So . . ." Eustace said as he helped Jill off the ground, "What exactly are those creatures? They don't look like anything I ever came across in Narnia."

Susan frowned as she inspected the bodies, unable to keep her nose from wrinkling as she took in their ghastly pale skin and thick, misshaped limbs. "I've never seen anything like them either," she confessed.

"Neither have I," said Edmund, "but we've read about something like them."

"Oh hell," Susan groaned as she realized.

"What?" Eustace asked. "What do you think they are?"

"Morlocks," Edmund said darkly. "I think they're Morlocks."

End of Chapter 7

AN: Thank you everyone for coming back this week to read this newest chapter. Also, thank you especially everyone who reviewed: amber'eyed'countess, Autumnia, and HeadBangGirl.

Lara86 – The rubber duckie idea wasn't that bad, per say – if they weren't annoyed that he'd wasted time getting those ducks instead of his sword they might have thought it was funny.

Miniver, Diva. divine , and SpicyRoses – When in doubt, insult their grammar!

jxr1 – Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. I didn't write out the scene where Caspian actually got abducted but I'm planning to have him explain it in detail to the Pevensies once they're reunited.

rthstewart, garnetred, and mae-E – Thanks for the feedback. I was a little worried that having Aslan put them on the right path might seem a little too dues ex machine (or in English, I was worried it might seem like a clichéd cop out). But I figured that if I had the Pevensies stumbling around in other worlds while Caspian was languishing in an underground cage people might try to lynch me. Oh, and mae-E, I forgot to answer your question from the last chapter, but the yellow rings are the ones that take them to the Woods and the green rings allow them to get from the Woods into other worlds via the pools.

merlyn2 – You're right, Crowley doesn't have friends. No one likes him. Not even ugly non-people like Morlocks.

Next week our heroes find some kind-of allies, or at least non-hostiles. Anyone who's read _The Time Machine_ or watched the movie can probably guess what they are (some of you have already asked about them). If you haven't read/watched _The Time Machine_, don't worry – I will do everything in my power to write this so that you don't need to have read/watched it in order to enjoy this story. I do recommend checking into it sometime if you get the chance though – it's a very short book and a fast read, and the most recent remake of the movie is excellent. Thanks again for reading and I hope you'll stop by again next week for Chapter Eight.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When Caspian awoke the next time he was no longer in complete darkness. A dull orange glow emanated from a lantern on the other side of rusted metal bars. He blinked several times, forcing his eyes to focus on the figure seated beside the lantern, but the flickering shadows didn't make it easy.

"Ah, so you're awake," a familiar voice said with far too much good humor for Caspian to appreciate.

Caspian clenched his teeth and gave the (relatively) older man his most imperious glare. "Crowley."

"I was worried for a bit there – you were out of it quite a bit longer than you should have been. You're not originally from my world, are you?" Crowley asked. "The drugs we used had far too potent an effect on you for you to be native."

"Go to hell."

Crowley chuckled. "I'll take that as an affirmation."

"You can take your affirmation and choke on it." Caspian knew he was being petty. He blamed it on whatever drug Crowley's minions had put on that dart.

"Now, now, Mr. Casp. Is that any way for a king of Narnia to talk?"

Caspian sat up as straight as the cage he was in would allow and took stock of his situation as best as he could. As he'd deduced, he was in a cave. To be more precise, he was in some sort of cell built into a cave passage. Behind him was a wall of solid rock. In front of him were bars like from the cells of his castle's dungeon – only these were in much worse shape. There were actually pools of rust on the floor, frosting over the bolts that held them in place. Caspian wondered if perhaps they were brittle enough to break down. He'd have to try it later, when Crowley wasn't standing right in front of him.

"What do you want?" Caspian asked.

"There are a lot of things that I want, Ian, my friend –"

"Don't call me your friend. I have every intention of killing you when I get out of here."

"Ah." Crowley looked amused, much to Caspian's annoyance. "You might find that more difficult than you expect. As you might have realized by now, I'm not exactly acting alone."

As he spoke two figures moved out of the shadows – hunch backed, hooded figures that moved like predators. Caspian started to reach for his knife but froze when he came up empty. _Of course that bastard would have taken it,_ he thought angrily.

"Remember how we had a discussion about other worlds the night you and I first met?" Crowley asked, smirking as he saw Caspian's expression. "And how I told you that Mr. Wells, author of _The Time Machine_, was another world traveler, much like you and I? And you wanted to know what proof I had of this? Well Ian, my friend, my proof is right here. Shi'ftla, Menj'ki . . ."

Crowley's minions removed their hoods revealing Neanderthal-like visages, faces that looked half human, half animal.

"A normal person would have recoiled upon getting a glimpse of them," Crowley commented, "but you merely look upon them with cool detachment . . . like you're used to seeing such unsightly creatures."

"They're Morlocks?" Caspian asked, his brain reaching the logical conclusion from the information Crowley had given him.

"That's what they call themselves."

"So . . . we're not in England anymore, are we?"

"We're not." Crowley nodded to his subordinates. "You two can go. You're not needed here now."

Caspian resisted the urge to offer the Morlocks a parting shot – equating them to lap dogs or something equally insulting. But he figured it was best not to provoke them – not at the moment at least.

"Are there creatures like them in Narnia?" Crowley asked once they were gone. "Something similar you've seen that makes their appearance not such a shock to you?"

"They look like a cross between a gnome and a hag," Caspian told him. "But I'm not answering anymore of your questions until you tell me what you want with me."

Crowley's smile was unsettling and there was a nasty glint in his eyes. "Well in that case I'll get straight to the point."

X

"Morlocks? Like from _The Time Machine?"_ Eustace asked enthusiastically. He looked far too happy at this revelation. The grin on his face alone made Edmund want to punch him.

"How do you even know what a Morlock is?" Susan demanded.

"We read _The Time Machine_ at Experiment House," Jill told them. "Just last month actually."

"It's funny . . ." Eustace looked quite pleased with himself, "Pole and I thought it seemed more like the alleged Time Traveler was in fact more of a World Traveler, but that he just didn't know it."

"No, I thought that," Jill corrected him. "All you thought was that Wells had plagiarized Jonathan Swift."

"I agreed with you –"

"No you didn't! You kept on about how the Morlocks were blatantly lifted from _Gulliver's Travels_ and hardly let me get a word in!"

"Well the Morlocks were so similar to the yahoos, you can't blame me for thinking – hey, do you think that maybe Jonathan Swift traveled to other worlds too? That the different islands he visited in _Gulliver's Travels_ were actually other worlds?"

"One headache at a time, please," Edmund said before their conversation could turn into a full scale literary debate. "We need to focus on what's happening now."

"Ed's right," Peter said quickly. "We're not exactly in an ideal situation here."

"We should move," Edmund suggested.

"Right," Peter agreed. "We don't know if those Morlocks –"

"Are we sure they're Morlocks?" Eustace asked.

"We don't know if those creatures, which we will refer to as Morlocks for lack of any better term," Peter rephrased, glaring at Eustace, "were on their way somewhere specific or just passing by, or if they were here specifically for the water." He nodded toward the river. "We also don't know who might come after them or how many more there are. So let's find somewhere else to make camp."

They packed up what little gear they had put down and started walking again.

"You know," Lucy said when they were on their way once more, "if those things were Morlocks and Mr. Wells was right about them existing, do you think he might have been right about those other people as well?"

"The Eloi?" Jill asked.

"It stands to reason," Edmund said.

"Oh God, I hope they're not real," Eustace moaned. "They were even worse than the Morlocks."

"How so?" Susan asked, who hadn't read the entire book. "Were they more dangerous?"

"If you consider ignorance and decadence dangerous," Eustace stated. "Which I do. Imagine the personalities of cows put into human bodies and you've got the Eloi –"

"They're not half so bad as he's trying to make them out to be," Jill interrupted. "It's hardly a bad thing for a species to want to live in peace."

"Wanting to live in peace isn't bad. Wanting to live in peace so bad that you ignore oppressors who pick you off one by one is just plain stupid," Eustace scoffed. "Look where that got our world –"

"You can't compare the actions of a nonaggressive fictional race to the League of Nations –" Jill started to say.

"The hell I can't. We turned a blind eye when Germany started breaking the Treaty of Versailles. We ignored them when they invaded Czechoslovakia, then Poland, then Belgium, then the next thing we knew over seventy-million people were dead! And over half of them civilians!"

Edmund blinked and looked at Peter. His brother's shocked expression mirrored his own. Neither had ever heard Eustace get this worked up before.

"How many of them could have been saved if someone had stepped forward sooner and said 'This is wrong,' huh?"

"And when it's against your nature to fight?" Jill asked. "When it goes against everything you know and believe? Saying that the Eloi have to rise up and kill the Morlocks is like saying that rabbits should rise up to fight off wolves. We're not talking about countries, we're talking about different species."

"According to Wells they were two subspecies of humans. Even if they weren't as intelligent as humans they were capable of human-like reasoning which made them capable of choosing their own nature – and they chose to stand by and allow the weak members of their society to be picked off and devoured and didn't put up any sort of resistance –"

"Enough, you two," Edmund said, before their debate could get out of hand. "We won't be able to hear any enemies approaching if you two keep arguing."

Honestly though, Edmund wished that it wasn't necessary to stop them. He would have liked to have seen their debate through to the end – and he could see that his siblings felt the same way. It wasn't often that Eustace acted and spoke rationally. People tended to forget that beneath his bumbling and careless façade he was actually fairly intelligent – more than intelligent, he was someone who Aslan himself had chosen as a champion.

"Sorry Edmund," Jill said quickly, but then glowered at Eustace. "We'll finish this later, Scrubb."

Edmund smirked. Jill had that inner fire too. Many times she had surprised them all – making it to Narnia in the first place, saving Caspian's son, shooting a Nazi who was trying to kill Susan, and perhaps the greatest feat of all, being able to tolerate Eustace on a daily basis.

"You better believe we will," Eustace said, giving her a challenging glare.

Jill smiled sweetly back at Eustace – and for some reason that Edmund couldn't comprehend, he felt a stab of annoyance at that. Then he realized that her smile was a bit too sweet to be sincere, though Eustace seemed to realize it first.

"What's with that leering grin?" Eustace demanded.

"Nothing, really," Jill said innocently. "I was just thinking that we'd probably have the chance to do a bit more research before concluding our debate."

"Research?" Eustace asked.

"First hand research," Jill said, then raised a finger and pointed toward the canopy.

Lights flickered in the trees – like the sort of light given off by oil lamps, and ropes and platforms were visible overhead even in the falling gloom.

"I think," Jill said, "that we've found an Eloi village."

End of Chapter Eight

AN: Sorry, I lied in my last AN – I originally planned to have our heroes meeting the Eloi in this chapter, but then it occurred to me that I was introducing two races quite quickly, without giving much of a description of each, beyond their physical appearance, at least. So I rewrote this chapter in a way that (I hope) gives some insight into what the two races are like without resorting to long blocks of exposition. In the next chapter, however, the Eloi will be making an appearance and, little by little, our heroes come closer to finding Caspian. As always thank you everyone who reviewed:

Ash1234 and rthstewart: I'm glad you guys like Edmund in this story so far – if I write a third story in this series he'll probably be the main character.

Diva divine: Complications are my specialty! *evil laugh* Yeah, I'll definitely be making up for them getting an easy way in.

merlyn2: You're right about the White Witch's spell – and about the inconsistencies in the books since Lewis didn't have everything planned yet when he started writing the first book. I tried to use that to make things more simple and not waste words, but you caught me, lol. Sorry, that was lazy of me and I'll try to avoid doing that in the future.

Miniver: I'm afraid that my title is a little misleading – there aren't going to be as many worlds in this story as I think people were expecting. The title is actually part of a line/quote that will be used later in a (hopefully) significant conversation. But on the bright side, there will be a scene in Narnia near the end . . . probably not like anyone's imagining now though, but I think some people will manage to figure out what I'm planning before the end.

HeadBangGirl: I'm glad you enjoyed this battle scene – there's another one coming up which I hope you'll enjoy too, but I anticipate it being more difficult to write because a lot more stuff is going to be happening.

Mae-E, Lavendar and garnetred: They'll be finding Caspian soon, don't worry.

Amber Eyed Countess: I hope I did an okay job getting across what Morlocks and Eloi are like. If it's confusing please let me know and I'll try to remedy that.

Maristelle: Come September I will be making every effort possible to update this story twice a week, and I'll be adding some original stories to my website if you want to read more of my work. Right now I think this month is the busiest month of my life so far, but in a good way, (mostly) lol.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"As you have deduced, we are in the world spoken of in _The Time Machine_," Crowley told Caspian. "My childhood friend Wells, fool that he was, believed that his device had transcended the boundaries of time rather than the boundaries of our world – though when I say our world I mean the one that he and I are native to. I haven't forgotten that you're a Narnian by any means."

"It wasn't necessarily a foolish conclusion to come to," Caspian said, ignoring the comment about his world of origin. "Not when you take the time distortion into consideration."

Crowley raised an eyebrow at Caspian. "Time distortion?"

"Time doesn't flow at the same speed in every world," Caspian said, "As you well know."

"And what do you base that conclusion on?" Crowley asked snidely.

"Aside from the fact that you read about it in my books? You look like you're in your mid-forties," Caspian told him. "Wells died last year and according to the biography page in the copy of _The Time Machine_ that I picked up, he was 79. If you were childhood friends you should be quite a bit older than you are now."

"Ah, right you are, Mr. Casp –"

"Stop calling me that," Caspian snapped.

"Ian then –"

"Caspian. That's my real name – not that hideous acronym the military gave me."

"Caspian." Crowley chucked. "Funny name."

Caspian gave him a withering look. "So time moves faster in the world that England is a part of than in this one?" he asked. He felt a pang of concern at that. "How much faster?"

"There doesn't seem to be any standard rate of conversion," Crowley said with a shrug. "Sometimes I'll return after a week to find that months have passed. Sometimes I'll return after three days to find that only a week has passed."

An image of Susan and her family appeared in Caspian's mind. _How long have I been missing from their world?_ he wondered. He thought of the note he'd left for them and clenched his fists. At least Edmund would be forewarned if Crowley approached him, the other author of the Narnian Chronicles. It didn't occur to him for even a moment that there was any hope of a rescue attempt on their part. He was marooned on an unknown world, after all, and it seemed that the only way to get there was by using some abomination of technology.

Somehow he managed to keep his features schooled and composed. Letting Crowley see how rattled he was would only give the other man more ammunition against him. "We're off topic," Caspian said curtly. "Why is it relevant that this is, for lack of any better term, the Time Machine world?"

Crowley chuckled again. "I was getting to that, my friend."

Caspian resisted the urge to remind him that they were not friends.

"This world has two races which bear a significant resemblance to humans," Crowley continued. "The Morlocks who, as you have just seen, have a very brutish appearance, and the Eloi, a fair featured, pixie-like race. At first glance one would think the Eloi to be the more intellectual race of the two while the Morlocks are more given to brute strength. In truth the Morlocks are superior to the Eloi in every way – every way except aesthetic ones, of course. They are well aware that their physical appearance leaves much to be desired."

"And they truly eat the Eloi?" Caspian asked warily.

"Yes, they consume the Eloi," Crowley confirmed. "Oh don't make that face. Eloi meat is actually quite delicious."

Caspian resolved right then and there not to eat anything that even resembled meat until he managed to escape.

"It's very tender, which is to be expected since the Eloi never exert themselves," Crowley said. "Indeed they really have no purpose other than to be consumed by the Morlocks. The Morlocks would not bother keeping them alive otherwise, and without assistance from the Morlocks they would most likely perish."

"Better to die free than live as someone else's livestock," Caspian said, his voice dripping with disgust.

"Who are you to judge their culture?" Crowley asked. "Really, Caspian, you're being quite ethnocentric."

"It's not ethnocentric to feel sympathy or pity for an enslaved people," Caspian shot back.

"It is a human response," Crowley said, smirking, "thus you are asserting that your views and culture as a human are superior to those of the Morlocks and Eloi."

Caspian returned Crowley's smirk with a mirthless smile of his own. Crowley should have been more careful about who he decided to debate racial ethics with. "Not hardly. You are begging the question in assuming that sympathy and pity are reserved only for humans."

"For close-minded humans," Crowley corrected.

"However," Caspian raised his voice to speak over the other man, "your own inexperience is what led you to this conclusion. Your knowledge is limited to matters involving only three races. Mine encompasses more than twelve times as many. Whether it be centaurs, or satyrs, dwarves, or giants, nymphs or minotaurs, Morlocks, Eloi, or humans, there is only one constant when it comes to benevolent emotions, and that is this: compassion is a privilege reserved for the strong."

"You make the claim that you're strong even when you're trapped behind bars by Morlocks, and of course, by me?" Crowley looked annoyed.

"Rivers flow around and between mountains because they don't have enough strength to go straight through them. The path of least resistance is what makes them run crooked. If the Morlocks are as strong as you claim them to be they could have found a way to survive that doesn't involve cannibalizing their neighbors. The fact that they haven't means that they're weaker than you give them credit for."

Crowley opened his mouth then shut it and scowled at Caspian. "This is all fine and well, Mr. Casp, but I fear we have gotten off topic yet again."

"So what does this world have to do with me?" Caspian asked. "Have the Morlocks gotten tired of eating Eloi and want to start eating humans?"

"If it was something that simple I would not have bothered finding another world traveler to abduct here," Crowley said. "My reasons are far more complex. You see, Wells was correct when he recorded that the Morlocks and the Eloi are, in a manner of speaking, cut from the same cloth. Or at least that is what the Morlocks believe. They have records of a time before either Morlocks or Eloi when there was only one race – a people as fair of face and structure as the Eloi, but with the strength of limb of the Morlocks. They had other notable attributes as well – things more desirable than beauty which the Morlocks would like to reclaim."

Crowley paused dramatically – no doubt expecting Caspian to ask what those attributes were.

Caspian crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "I still don't see why this should be my concern."

The expression on Crowley's face was quite amusing – he looked as though he'd just taken a bite of a lemon.

"According to the lore that the Morlocks recorded, their ancestors were also capable of transmogrification," he said, drawing himself up and trying to look dignified again.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Caspian asked. "I don't even know what that means."

"Shape shifting!" Crowley snapped. "These people were capable of transforming, at will, into giant serpents with scales like emeralds and eyes like fire!"

Caspian's heart skipped a beat and his nonchalant expression started to slip. He caught himself just in time and schooled his features back to a stoic mask. "And this affects me in what manner?"

Crowley looked thoroughly disgusted by his audience's apathetic response. "The first race lost this ability after their leader, the Serpent Queen, left this world," Crowley told him sullenly. "And by left this world I don't mean that she died – or at least they don't mean that she died. She emigrated to another world. The details are a bit sketchy on why she did that. According to some sources she was seeking a consort."

Caspian clenched his fists so hard that his nails broke the skin of his palms. Thankfully Crowley didn't notice.

"Others say that she sought a new world to conquer, bored with the one that already knelt at her feet. The only thing that all the Morlock legends agree on is that she intended to return."

_Stay calm. He doesn't know, _Caspian ordered himself, forcing his expression to remain neutral. _He doesn't know about the Green Witch who abducted Rilian. There's no possible way he could – Edmund hasn't even started writing that story yet._

"Are you ever going to get around to telling me why you went to the trouble of bringing me here?" Caspian asked. "If it was for advice about how to get these Morlock legends published we could have just as easily discussed it in England."

"The reason I brought you here," Crowley said with a malicious smile, "was so you could assist me in summoning the Serpent Queen back to this world."

End of Chapter Nine

AN: . . . I lied again, about the Eloi making an appearance (sorry!) but I promise they'll show up in the very next chapter. People have been asking for more Caspian so I altered my outline and moved this chapter up in the order. Hopefully no one will be too disappointed since Caspian's more fun to read about than the Eloi and now the question of what Crowley is up to has been answered.

Huge thanks to my faithful reviewers!

Mae-E – I'm glad you liked this chapter. I'm sorry your computer was acting up and I'm even sorrier it deleted your questions. I always like reading your comments because you pay attention to all the smallest details and pick up on more than I expected most people to.

garnetred – September is coming soon, and with it updates twice a week. :)

Miniver – Don't worry, Crowley definitely gets his comeuppance. Also, I'm glad you approved of Eustace's position in his debate. I'm looking forward to how the next movie is going to portray him once he makes his transition from annoying prat to someone worthy of championing Narnia, but they keep delaying production, curse them!

Merlyn2 – I had to read Gulliver's travels in school, and to be honest I hated it the first time. It was the original text so I had to wade through those archaic spellings and a lot of the story went over my head. Later, in college, I re-read it while doing a study of books that students are required to read in schools, looking at the time periods each story was written in and the major issues society was facing at the time. It's amazing how looking at a story in context can completely change the way you see it – like how "The Crucible" (the play about the Salem Witch Trials) was written in response to Senator McCarthy's witch hunts for communists. I wish they'd explained stuff like that better the first time around. A large part of my presentation was actually about Narnia and Lord of the Rings, both excellent examples of Post WWII literature that vividly show their authors' conviction that even after all the evil they'd seen there was still good in the world.

Diva divine – I'm glad you liked the debate last chapter – I'm a little worried that following it with this conversation heavy chapter will be a bit boring to some people but next chapter the pace should pick up again.


	10. Chapter 10

I found out a couple days ago that I was being called out of town for the rest of the week, so I've been scrambling to finish this chapter. I promised one chapter a week and I'd rather post it early than post it late ~

Chapter 10

The look Caspian gave to Crowley was his best imitation of the look Peter and Edmund always gave Eustace before telling him to shut up. "You sir," he told the other man, "are completely insane."

"Don't be so close minded," Crowley said dismissively.

"One of us should be close minded since you opened yours up and let everything out of it!" Caspian shot back. "You want to resurrect a witch? That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

"It's not like you're completely unfamiliar with the process though, is it?" Crowley asked.

Caspian glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It was in your book, _Prince Telmarine_," Crowley reminded him. "Your king was almost unwittingly a part of recalling the White Witch to Narnia. Or should I say you were almost unwittingly a part of recalling the White Witch?"

Caspian fought to keep his expression from changing. Perhaps he could bluff his way out of this. "Me? Are you trying to say that I'm a character from one of my books?"

"Aren't you?" Crowley asked with an annoying, knowing smile.

Still . . . Caspian didn't think that he could possibly know everything. "Not from any of the books that have been published so far," he said with a smirk. "Though I find it funny that you mistook me for my great-great-great grandfather."

Crowley's annoying smile melted into a scowl as he swallowed the bait, hook and all. "Still, you are a scholarly prince, are you not? Surely you've come across something on the matter in your studies."

"I'm not telling you anything," Caspian told him. "And I'm not helping you summon a witch. Even if I wanted to, I haven't the slightest idea how to."

"I think in time you'll come around."

"You don't think at all. If you did you'd realize how terrible an idea that is."

Crowley chuckled. "We'll see," he said, picking up the lantern and turning his back to Caspian. "Spending a few weeks alone in the dark just might persuade you to see things my way."

Caspian watched him go, watched the flickering lantern light retreat until the pitch black he'd awoken to the first time completely covered him once more. "Like hell it will," he muttered under his breath.

He didn't know for sure if Crowley's Serpent Queen truly was the Queen of Underland – the bitch who'd murdered his wife and kidnapped his beloved son. He didn't much care, either. He would rather be tortured to death than do anything that might bring that bitch back to life. Rilian, Eustace, and Jill had killed her and he'd be damned before he undid their efforts.

"Aslan deliver me," he whispered and reached for the bars of his cell. One way or another he would find a way out of this mess.

X

Even though Edmund had read about the Eloi in _The Time Machine_ he was not prepared for them.

"Hoy! You up there! Eloi! Hoy, I'm yelling at you! Yes, you! I say, you should pay better attention!" It took ten whole minutes of Eustace shouting at them before they finally worked up enough spine to realize that they weren't being hailed by Morlocks.

The one who slid down the rope ladder that they'd lowered to greet them looked at them with a strange expression but didn't speak.

"Hello," Peter said finally, taking the initiative. "Please pardon our intrusion, but my companions and I have been travelling through the jungle all day and we seek a safe place to rest while we sleep –"

The Eloi took a step back, his gaze becoming fearful.

"We also killed six Morlocks not even half an hour ago," Eustace piped up, "so if you let us stay here we promise to protect you guys too!"

"You . . . killed Morlocks?" the pixie-like creature asked.

"Eustace . . ." Peter said warningly.

"Six of them," Eustace boasted, "like it was nothing."

"Then . . . you're . . . heroes!"

Gaining the Eloi's trust – and admittance into their treetop village – was that easy. There were no further questions, no mistrustful looks, no suspicions whatsoever. It reminded Edmund of when he and his siblings were in Narnia. Every goodly creature the Kings and Queens of Old encountered was open and trusting and friendly and many of them were in awe. These Eloi were the same. The travelers were immediately led to an empty treetop hut and a large bowl of fruits and vegetables were brought for their dinner.

And then the Eloi seemed to lose interest and left them to their own devices as surely as if they'd forgotten that they even had guests.

"This is odd . . ." Peter mused, looking out the doorway, into the darkness where the outlines of treetops and other huts were just visible. "They don't seem to care at all that we're strangers. They're neither suspicious nor curious . . ."

"They're not humans, remember?" Jill spoke up. "Though they look a lot like us . . . It's no wonder that Wells mistook them for an evolved form of humans . . ."

"Devolved form of humans," Eustace corrected her, "assuming that evolution is real, and frankly, I'm not convinced that it is –"

"Don't even start with that you insufferable moron!" Jill growled. "Just because you lost one debate doesn't mean you can cover it up by starting a new one!"

"I did not lose that debate! If I remember correctly, we put it on hold to obtain more information!" Eustace shot back.

"And so far we've established that the Eloi are clearly not human."

"She's right," Lucy put in. "They're as far away from being human as dwarves and nymphs."

"And as depressing, on the whole, as Marsh-wiggles," Eustace said. "Though even a wiggle will pick up a weapon to defend himself or those he cares about."

"There are no middle aged Eloi," Peter said in the tone he always used when hoping to derail an argument. "Or elders. At least none that I saw . . ." He glanced at his siblings.

"I didn't notice any either," Edmund said. Out the corner of his eye he saw both his sisters shaking their heads.

"So the Morlocks pick off the older ones and the sick and the weak," Peter said grimly.

"Like wolves picking off deer," said Jill.

"I say, will you stop equating them to animals, Pole?" Eustace asked irritably. "We've already established that they have human level intelligence and human level reasoning skills. They're not chimpanzees –"

"But they are pacifists! They shouldn't be forced down the road of violence when it is so obviously against their nature!" Jill snapped. "You remember when we studied penguins, Scrubb? How some in Antarctica they will come right up to humans on land because the only enemies they've ever known are in the water? These Eloi are exactly the same –"

"Bloody hell, they're not penguins!"

"Let's examine their reasoning, shall we? They see us. They realize that we're not Morlocks. They decide that we are not a threat to them since the only threat they've ever known are the Morlocks. Tell me, what's so wrong about that?" Jill demanded. "Are you trying to say it's inferior to human behavior, since humans have learned from experience to be suspicious of anyone they don't know because there are so many corrupt and violent people in all the worlds?"

"Keep it down you two," Edmund said before the red faced Eustace could respond to Jill's venomous diatribe. "We don't want to alarm our hosts and now really isn't the time to conclude your debate."

"Ed's right," Peter said. "The two of you need to remember what's really important here. No more fighting over ethics or philosophy until we're safely back home."

"With Caspian," Susan added.

"Until we're all safely back home with Caspian," Peter amended.

Eustace started spluttering. "But – but –"

"We need to decide on our next move," Peter continued, ignoring his cousin. "Edmund, what do you think?"

"Sleep here tonight, obviously. Tomorrow we should check and see if the Eloi mind us spending the nights here until we're ready to go home. I have the feeling that Caspian isn't too far from where we are now," Edmund said, then explained his reasoning. "Aslan's guiding us, after all. I don't think he'd have let us come into this world on any continent but the one that Caspian's on."

"I wish we didn't have to stop looking for the night," Susan said, staring out into the darkness again.

"I say, we're all tired to the bone, cousin," Eustace protested. "Unless we get some sleep we're all as useless as Caspian, wherever it is that he's been marooned or imprisoned or hogtied and gagged."

_We're back to this again,_ Edmund thought and sighed. "Eustace . . ."

"Shut up," Peter finished.

"How come you never tell Pole to shut up?" Eustace demanded. "She was the one doing all the yelling about pacifists and penguins –"

"They're not telling you to shut up because you're being loud," Jill told her friend.

"They're telling you to shut up because you keep making stupid, inconsiderate comments that would have gotten you shot by now if we'd given Susan the gun," Lucy finished sweetly.

Eustace opened his mouth then shut it and glowered. "Fine. I'm going to sleep then. We should all get some rest so that we can start searching again tomorrow as early as possible."

"I hate to admit it," Edmund said, "but he's right. We should sleep now. We're all tired and tomorrow's going to be even longer than today was."

Edmund didn't know then how true those words would turn out to be.

End of Chapter 10

AN: Next chapter will be up by Friday, August 28. I know this story has gotten conversation heavy lately, but I'll be having our heroes delve back into action and danger again soon. Thank you for bearing with me and returning to read this chapter.

And as always, double thanks to my reviewers:

Diva divine – Sorry about updating so much slower this summer than last year, but September is almost here (September = 2x week updates)

mae-E – I wasn't exactly positive how my interpretation of the Eloi was going to turn out until I actually wrote them. I originally wanted to make them a blend between the book version and the remake movie version of them, but I wanted them to fit into Jill and Eustace's argument too, so that played a part in how they're acting. You were right when you said that neither is completely right or wrong in their opinions and that's what I'm hoping to ultimately convey, with regards to the Eloi culture.

jxr1 – I'll try to do better and pick up the story's pace. Some more of our heroes are gonna get kidnapped by Morlocks soon – how's that for excitement?

merlyn2 – I like to build my stories around pre-existing elements from the originals, if that makes sense. When I was planning this story and thinking of ways to bridge the gap between Narnia and the Time Machine world it occurred to me that the snake bitch lived underground like the Morlocks – it was too convenient not to exploit, lol.

HeadbangGirl – Edmund falling for Jill? Maybe. I'm thinking of writing one more story in this AU with Edmund, Jill, and Eustace as the main characters, but that will be some time in coming. Right now Edmund's just getting to know her better and gaining more respect for her.

maristelle – Since people seem to like it I'll try to give glimpses of what's going on in both camps in forthcoming chapters.

Garnetred – It's actually not Jadis that Crowley's trying to bring back – the witch he was talking about is from _The Silver Chair_. Right after Jill and Eustace get to Narnia in that book they learn that Caspian is about to die of old age and doesn't have an heir because his son was kidnapped by a witch that could turn into a snake, who also killed his wife. So Caspian's got personal vendetta against this witch.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Shi'ftla sprinted through the tunnels, heedless of the complete and utter darkness that descended upon him the moment he turned a corner and the moonlight was drowned out by the impenetrable blackness of the earth. Behind him he heard Menj'ki, Kuja, and several other Morlocks attempting to keep up, but with the burdens they carried it was difficult.

Shi'ftla headed immediately to the branch of tunnels where he knew the off worlder would be. He had a bone to pick with Crowley and as long as the man wasn't off tormenting the other off worlder they'd kidnapped, he would be in the cavernous room where his machine first appeared.

Crowley looked up startled when Shi'ftla barreled into the room without pausing at the entrance to announce himself as the earth man always insisted all Morlocks do. He recovered quickly and raised his death weapon – the revolver, he called it – and pointed it straight at Shi'ftla. At that point Shi'ftla froze and held up his hands. Crowley glared at him then slowly lowered the revolver.

"I trust," the man said in a voice that was so calm it was scary, "that you have a very good reason for barging in here as though the hounds of hell were snapping at your heels."

Shi'ftla had no idea what a hound of hell was, nor did he particularly care. "Some other Morlocks went hunting at sundown," he told Crowley. "Now they all dead."

Crowley raised an eyebrow. "Really? I wonder what manner of misfortune befell them out there in the jungle . . . and why you think this is of any concern to me."

"They sliced open by knives like we use to cut up Eloi," Shi'ftla told him. "Others killed by revolver."

For the first time since Shi'ftla had met him, Crowley looked surprised. "They were shot?" he asked incredulously.

"Killed by revolver," Shi'ftla repeated.

"That's impossible," Crowley said sharply.

"They have the mark hole. Other Morlocks bringing the bodies."

Crowley's face twisted in revulsion, all signs of shock gone. "In here? No. Absolutely not. I prefer not to live in quarters stained with blood. Do not bring their carcasses in here!"

Shi'ftla nodded and stepped back into the hallway. "Take bodies to eating place!" he called to his comrades before they could bring down Crowley's anger on them. He did not want the off worlder waving his death weapon about like a madman again and killing even more Morlocks. He did need to talk with Crowley though . . . something he was not particularly looking forward to.

"Are more off worlders coming here?" he asked the earth man bluntly.

He watched Crowley's face closely and saw it – a flash of uncertainty in his eyes that bordered on fear.

Then it was gone, as though it never existed. "Of course not," Crowley lied smoothly. "It's not even possible that any are here now."

"The mark holes –"

"Has it not occurred to you that perhaps the Eloi have merely, at long last, conceived the idea of the bow and arrow?"

"The what?"

"Shi'ftla, my good Morlock, there are many, many ways of killing a person – using person as a relative term, of course. I can see why you might have a hard time believing this, beings as your kind restricts itself to killing for food, but my race excels in developing new, more efficient ways of killing. You make do with bashing the Eloi over the head with rocks but in my world we have methods that can kill every living thing in a city in less time than it takes you to belch. The Eloi are getting started a bit late in the game but it seems that they too have discovered how easy it is to kill."

Shi'ftla didn't buy that for even a moment. Eloi weren't that smart. They were food on two legs, nothing more. Creating a death weapon like Crowley's was far beyond their ilk.

But he believed what Crowley said about humans and their powers to destroy life. He'd been to Crowley's world briefly and seen the wonders and horrors that were there to behold. Cars, revolvers, world traveling machines . . . none of which Crowley himself had had any part in inventing. Which meant that it wasn't only possible that other humans could travel to Shi'ftla's world from off world – it was almost certain that they had.

"You probably right," Shi'ftla told Crowley, making a point to fall back into the more primitive Morlock way of speaking as he feigned acquiescence. It would be better to let Crowley think he was just another thick headed Morlock. At least until he'd figured out how to use the new humans to the best possible advantage.

X

Eustace wasn't used to getting up at the crack of dawn. People who did so on a regular basis annoyed him to no end. Needless to say, he was not happy when Edmund shook him awake an hour before dawn even broke then yanked his bedroll out from underneath him so he couldn't drift off again.

"Get up already, Scrubb," Jill said when he strung together several syllables that were incoherent even to him. "We've got to go find Caspian."

That got Eustace to open his eyes. He immediately felt bad for being annoyed that he couldn't sleep in when his friend was being held captive somewhere. He felt even worse for forgetting about that, even for a sleep hazed moment.

"The Eloi are fine with us staying here," Jill told him, once he sat up and started rubbing his eyes. "Which is good. It means we can leave the gear we don't need immediately here."

"Which is most of it," Edmund said. "Rope, medical supplies, lanterns, and my torch are mostly what we need – aside from weapons of course. Blankets can all stay here –"

"Yes, yes, that's great," Eustace said, blocking his cousin out. "What's for breakfast?"

After a meal of fruit and more fruit the travelers set off.

Peter took the lead and Edmund brought up the rear. Those two always seemed to be scheming and strategizing. Finishing each other's sentences, knowing what the other was thinking without having to discuss it . . . It was like they were best friends as well as brothers. Susan and Lucy had some sort of silent communication between the two of them as well. Eustace had noticed more than once how when Susan started to get upset and wring her hands or simply stare off into space like some tragic marble sculpture, Lucy always seemed to turn toward her, almost instinctively. Even if she was walking in front of Susan and not looking at her, or talking with one of her brothers.

Sometimes Eustace regretted not having a brother or sister. When he was younger he'd envied his cousins so much – they always had someone to talk to and turn to. He had gone out of his way to try to annoy them and make them unhappy during the holidays when they were children, or whenever he saw them, but they still somehow managed to enjoy themselves as long as they were with each other.

Eustace glanced over his shoulder at Jill who was talking with Lucy. He was glad Pole had been included on this adventure. Even if she did have the annoying habit of siding with his cousins he still enjoyed her company. She was smart and funny and brave . . . and hopelessly in love with Caspian which annoyed Susan to no end. Eustace thought that was quite funny.

As though she felt his gaze on her, Jill looked up and met Eustace's eyes. He quickly turned back around and pretended he hadn't been staring at her.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Jill asked after several beats of silence. "I thought Morlocks didn't come out during the day."

"We're looking for a cave or an opening into the ground," Edmund told her. "Maybe a pyramid or some such."

"Like the Egyptians?" Jill asked, dropping back to walk closer to Edmund.

For some reason that he couldn't place, that annoyed Eustace.

His darkened mood was rivaled by the darkening of the sky. Overhead, above the canopy, clouds must have been developing, blotting out even the meager amount of light that made it through the treetops. No one was surprised when it began raining around midday. Not just raining, pouring. Within minutes they were soaked and the patter of rainwater against the leaves was so loud that Eustace almost didn't hear Peter when he called them all together so he could talk to them.

"I think we ought to go back," he said, speaking in a raised voice so that he could be heard.

"It's only a bit of rain," Susan argued. "We've traveled through worse."

"It's not just the rain," Peter told her. "We've walked quite a ways today and we want to be back at the Eloi village before it gets dark."

"It's already dark," Eustace felt obligated to interject.

Peter gave him a weary look. "We want to be back before sundown," he rephrased. "The Morlocks have too big an advantage in the night."

Susan hesitated a moment then nodded. Eustace was glad. He didn't fancy trekking through the rain for hours – or at least for more hours than he had to. It would take them quite a bit of time to get back to the Eloi village since they'd been walking all day.

Little did Eustace know that rain would soon be the least of their worries. After all, as he told Peter, it was already dark, and the Morlocks didn't care if the sun was still in the sky as long as its light wasn't burning them.

End of Chapter Eleven

Thank you everyone for reading, and as always, double thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Merlyn2 – Happy birthday, a week late lol. I had Peter and Edmund tell Eustace to shut up again because I was a bit worried they were getting out of practice.

HeadBangGirl – Glad you like the idea for my next story – though I don't know how long that one will be in coming. But there are a few things mentioned in the books that I'd like to elaborate on in another fic, like Uncle Andrew's godmother and the several references that Lewis makes to King Arthur throughout the series.

Garnetred and Maristelle – Starting next month I'll be updating twice a week. Right now I'm planning to post chapters on Mondays and Fridays.

Mae-E – Thank you once again for all your insight. Crowley won't be answering to Aslan but he definitely gets what's coming to him and Aslan will be making an appearance.

Diva divine – Six classes? Orz, that's a lot. Maybe if you get your professors addicted to fanfiction they won't assign as much work. It's worth a try, isn't it?

Rthstewart – I'm glad you liked Caspian's debate with Crowley. I was a little worried that I might not have written that scene clearly enough but everyone seems to have understood it, so I'm happy.

Next chapter will be up September 4. After that I'll be making every attempt to update twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Despite the torrential downpour there was relatively little mud for the Pevensies and company to slog through. Edmund thought that odd at first then realized that their environment had quite a bit to do with that. All of the undergrowth did a remarkable job of absorbing the excess water, which he supposed was only to be expected in a rain forest.

That did not mean, however, that there was no mud. Eustace was particularly adept at finding it and watching his hapless cousin stumble through every mud puddle on the way back to the Eloi village made the trek go quite a bit faster for Edmund.

Of course the fact that they went straight back to the village instead of stopping to investigate every hillock and rock formation probably helped them get back a good deal quicker as well. They returned early enough that the Eloi were still out and about despite the rain and hadn't pulled up their ladders yet. In fact, they were still gathering fruit for dinner from the looks of things.

"Well, today was certainly worthless," Eustace said.

"It was fruitless," Jill stated as several Eloi with bowls full of fruits walked past them.

Edmund chuckled and Eustace scowled. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"If you don't get it you don't get it," Edmund said with a shrug. This time Jill was the one who laughed and Eustace's face turned red.

"Do you think we ought to help them gather fruit?" Jill asked, still watching the Eloi as they ambled about, below the village, taking their sweet time.

Peter looked doubtful. "It's getting late."

"Sundown's still a ways away though," Jill pointed out.

"If she wants to help I'll go with her," Edmund volunteered.

Jill beamed. "Thank you, Edmund."

"I'll come too!" Eustace said.

Peter hesitated a moment, then nodded, giving his permission. "But I want you all back here well before sundown," he told them.

"We will be," Edmund assured him.

And so the three set off, following several Eloi to a grove where clusters of unfamiliar berries were growing from tangled vines and fist-sized fleshy fruits were sprouting from the scraggly bushes that the vines wrapped around for support. Edmund couldn't tell if they were wild plants that the Eloi were simply taking advantage of, or if they'd been cultivated that way. He sort of hoped that the Eloi had cultivated them – that would mean that they weren't beyond all help where caring for themselves was concerned.

"These look strange," Jill said, pulling down a cluster of berries. She tasted one hesitantly and made a face. "They're quite tart."

She held the berries out to Edmund, offering him a taste. Edmund started to reach for them but before he could touch them they were snatched out of Jill's hand by Eustace who promptly took a bite out of the cluster. Then he immediately spit them back out.

"Ack, sour," he said and spit again.

"Scrubb!" Jill protested, looking at him disgusted.

"I don't think these things are edible, Pole," Eustace told her.

"I was trying to give them to Edmund, you oaf!"

Edmund chuckled and started pulling the fist sized fruits off the bushes – it made more sense to fill their bowl half full with them first since they'd crush the berries otherwise.

"I thought you were holding them out to me."

"Why would I hold them out to you? You can get your own!"

"Yeah, well so can Edmund!"

_Crunch._

Edmund's head snapped up at the noise. The back of his neck prickled. Someone was watching them.

"I was giving them to him because I wanted to, not because he couldn't get his own!"

"Quiet!" Edmund ordered.

"Why is everyone always trying to shut me up?" Eustace wailed.

"Because you don't know when to shut up and have to be told!"

"Both of you!" Edmund snapped. He let the fruits he'd picked fall from his hands and drew his sword.

Jill and Eustace seemed to realize that something was wrong. Jill pulled her bow off of her back and started to string it and Eustace unsheathed his own sword.

"What's going on?" Eustace asked.

_Crunch._

"Shut up," Edmund hissed. He couldn't tell what direction the noise was coming from.

"Ouch!" Jill yelped.

Edmund started to turn toward her and tell her to be quiet again when he felt something sting his neck. He saw Jill slump toward the ground even as his own vision started to go watery. Behind him there was another thud – the sound of Eustace dropping as well. Edmund's own knees started to buckle and his sword slipped from limp fingers.

_Damn it . . . poison . . ._

Pain shot through Edmund's legs as his knees hit the ground then he fell forward, unable to catch himself with his hands – his arms felt too thick. His face impacted against the earth and his vision started to grow dim. The last thing he saw before he blacked out completely was an ugly ape-like face peering down into his rapidly dilating eyes.

X

Shi'ftla smirked as the tallest of the three earth people succumbed to the toxins that were now running through his blood. It would be interesting to see how Crowley reacted when he and his comrades brought these other off worlders back to the caves. Shi'ftla wasn't sure whether Crowley truly believed that it wasn't possible for other humans to follow him to this world or if he just wanted to play dumb in front of the Morlocks, but either way this would upend his plans.

He stepped forward and knelt beside the larger of the two males and checked to make sure that the dart had hit its mark instead of just nicking the human. It wouldn't do to have him waking up as they were bringing him back. This human in particular had a dangerous air about him. Shi'ftla didn't want to have to face him on anything that remotely resembled a level playing field.

_Turning these humans against Crowley might not be as easy as I thought_, Shi'ftla admitted, but only in his own mind. He couldn't afford to let his fellow Morlocks believe that he didn't have the situation completely under his control.

"Bring them," Shi'ftla said, turning to Kuja and Fwa'gum. "Make sure they sleep."

"They sleep," Kuja told him as he lifted the female human. "Darts hit them good."

"I hit second biggest," Fwa'gum said proudly. He hoisted the other male over his shoulder. "We eat well tonight."

"Humans are not for eating," Shi'ftla snapped. It didn't matter how many times he explained his plan to the others, they couldn't seem to grasp his strategy for longer than it took to change their conversation's topic. "Not yet."

"But they soft," Kuja reasoned. "Probably taste good. Like Eloi."

"We use these humans against Crowley," Shi'ftla said wearily. "Get rid of him."

"Hate Crowley," Fwa'gum snarled.

"We eat him then?" Kuja wanted to know.

"We eat Crowley," Shi'ftla confirmed. "We use these humans to get rid of Crowley for us then we eat him."

"Good plan," said Kuja.

"Good plan," Fwa'gum agreed.

So good that they would forget it within the next ten minutes, Shi'ftla knew, but it didn't really matter. He'd explain it to them again and they would go along with him again. They always did when a reasonable argument was presented.

"Let's go," Shi'ftla said. He didn't want to run the risk of more humans coming along while they were in the middle of abducting their comrades. What they were lacking in brute strength humans more than made up for with their strategies and weaponry. The half dozen Morlocks who'd been killed the previous night were proof of that.

X

When the shadows began to grow noticeably longer and Edmund, Jill, and Eustace had not yet returned Peter began to grow worried.

"You two stay here," he said to his sisters. "I'll back in a minute."

"You're not going anywhere alone," Susan said immediately.

"I'll be fine," Peter told her.

"Of course you will," said Lucy, "because we're going with you."

Peter scowled. "I want the two of you to stay here where it's safe."

"When Edmund and Eustace might be missing?" Susan asked incredulously.

"And Jill," Lucy added.

"I don't want to have to worry about the two of you and the three of them," Peter said. "Please, just stay here."

"You can't ask us to wait around and do nothing," Susan said adamantly. "We're all in this together."

"And we're wasting time," Lucy pointed out. Her voice came from below. Peter turned around and saw that she was already halfway down the ladder. He sighed and gave up.

_I should have known they wouldn't let this go,_ he thought as he followed Lucy down to the forest floor. Susan started down the ladder as soon as he reached the bottom.

They made their way in the direction they'd last seen the other three members of their party headed in. It wasn't too hard to figure out which way they'd went. There was only one path and no signs that anyone had veered off the trail. The three Pevensies moved quickly, conscious of the falling darkness, and soon found themselves in a small grove full of vine covered bushes.

And scattered on the ground of the clearing were an assortment of random articles – a bow and several arrows, an empty wooden bowl, several pieces of odd looking fruit, and one other thing that Peter would have missed if Lucy hadn't found it.

"Look," she said grimly as she held the object up for her older siblings to see.

Dangling between her two fingers was a piece of cord with a ring tied on either end – the rings that would let them escape from this world to the Woods Between the Worlds if they found themselves in a situation too dangerous and difficult to get out of.

One of their three missing comrades had lost their rings.

End of Chapter 12

AN: Next update will be on September 7 – Labor Day, which I have off. *cheer*

Many thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter including:

Emmalime – I'm glad you liked "Walk This World" enough to start reading this fic too. I'm hoping that this story will measure up to the last one.

Miniver – If I write a third story in this AU it most likely will have something to do with Arthurian legends. I've got a few ideas for it, mostly dealing with allusions that CS Lewis himself wrote in, like Uncle Andrew's "fairy godmother." I really should reread the series again and pay specific attention to anything that looks like a King Arthur reference. Maybe that will give me some more ideas.

maristelle and garnetred – This story should start moving a bit faster now that I'll be updating twice a week. I hope you guys continue to enjoy it!

Mae-E – feigning acquiescence means pretending to agree. Sorry, I'll try to make an effort not to use big and obscure words so that this story will be an easier, faster read. This chapter should have answered several of your questions about the last chapter, but it probably sparked a few new questions too, lol.

HeadBangGirl and merlyn2 – Giving Shi'ftla a mind of his own is vital to the outcome of this story. I think you two will understand what I mean soon if you haven't already figured out what I'm doing with him.

Ash12345 – The love story (stories?) will come into play again in a few chapters. I need more practice writing out romantic relationships, which is part of why I decided to do a sequel to Walk This World.

Diva divine – Wow, sounds like you are going to be busy. I hope you continue to enjoy your creative writing class – it's nice to have a fun class once in awhile. : )


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The sound of bare feet scuffing against the stone floor let Caspian know that he wasn't alone. He glared through the opaque darkness in the general direction of the footsteps, knowing that the Morlock could see him in the dark as clearly he himself could see in broad daylight. He refused to let these Morlocks think that he was intimidated by them.

"Earth man?" a slightly guttural voice asked, surprising Caspian. The Morlocks had brought him food twice so far, but none of them had spoken to him. He hadn't even been sure they understood the Narnian language . . . or the English language as the people of earth called it.

"What, Morlock?" Caspian asked coldly.

The Morlock didn't answer immediately. Caspian heard the sound of stone striking stone and saw a spray of sparks on the other side of the bars. Then a flame spluttered into life, emanating from a primitive torch.

Caspian blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the glow then focused on the Morlock. He looked like one of the minions that Crowley had introduced him to earlier (how much earlier he wasn't sure since he had no idea how much time was passing) but Caspian wasn't sure this actually was the same Morlock. The ape-like face was familiar though, the slumped posture, the coarse hair or fur that covered his dingy arms. His eyes were as black as coal and revealed nothing as he stared back at Caspian.

"I bring you food," the Morlock told him.

Caspian's stomach growled. He averted his eyes and refused to even look at the bowl that was slid through the bars of his cell. "I'll pass," he said adamantly, and kicked the dish back to the other side.

"It's fruit," the Morlock said and slid the bowl back into his cell again. "No meat."

Caspian raised his eyes from the floor and looked warily at the dish. Sure enough, it was filled with fresh fruit that had pieces of vine and leaves attached so that no one could mistake that they'd been harvested from plants rather than cut out of some hapless creature's body.

"You don't eat Eloi," the Morlock said as Caspian reached for the bowl. "Eloi don't eat Eloi. So I brought you fruit like Eloi eat."

That was surprisingly considerate of the Morlock, all things considered.

"Thank you," Caspian said and picked up a fist-sized, tan colored fruit whose like he'd never seen in Narnia nor on earth. He took a bite out of it and closed his eyes as cool, sugary juice filled his mouth. It was delicious – the sort of food whose taste he normally would have savored, but Caspian didn't know how long it had been since he'd last eaten and he was ravenous. He barely took the time to chew his first bite before swallowing the sweet pulp and sinking his teeth into the fruit again. Juice ran down his chin.

"Don't choke," the Morlock cautioned him.

"I will not," Caspian said around his mouthful of fruit. "Even if I did, what do you care?"

"I care." The Morlock stepped closer to the bars. "I care because maybe you can get rid of Crowley."

That made Caspian pause. "You want to get rid of Crowley?" he asked, not sure he'd heard correctly.

The Morlock nodded. "We don't like him."

"That is understandable."

The Morlock leaned against the rusted bars, which Caspian had learned were much stronger than they looked. He'd spent hours trying to bend, break or kick them loose and hadn't managed to do more than rattle them. "We don't like earth people. We want you all to leave. Go back to your own world and leave us here."

"I would like to do that very much myself," Caspian told him. "In fact, I would have preferred staying there instead of being kidnapped and locked up in this hole."

"Crowley made us take you," the Morlock told him. "He has the death weapon. He kill us all if we don't listen."

Caspian didn't have the energy to be sympathetic at that moment. "And probably if you do listen as well."

The Morlock leaned in even closer. "More humans come here on their own."

That got Caspian's attention. "What?"

"More humans from your world. They dress like earth people dressed. They have death weapons too. We captured three and brought them to caves but there are more. These three don't have a death weapon – we checked."

"More humans from earth?" Caspian asked. He wanted to make sure that he was understanding correctly.

The Morlock nodded. "The ones we caught were smaller than you. Two male, one female."

Caspian's heart jumped into his throat. "What . . . what do they look like?"

"All have skin paler than yours. Biggest male has black hair –"

"The girl – does she have black hair and blue eyes?" Caspian demanded.

"No. Her hair is lighter."

_Not Susan then . . . The black haired man could be Edmund . . . but Peter is larger than Edmund and he has fair hair. So who are they?_

"I want to make a deal," the Morlock said suddenly.

Caspian was immediately suspicious. "What kind of deal?"

"I help you escape. I show you where other humans are held. You and them get rid of Crowley. Then you go home. All humans go home. Never come back."

As much as Caspian would have liked to agree to those conditions right away he knew that wouldn't be wise. "I cannot speak for the other humans," he told the Morlock. "I cannot control them. They might not be from the world you brought me from – there is more than one world in which humans flourish. We might not even be able to understand each other – humans do not all speak the same language, even if they are from the same world. I do not even know how to get back to the world I came from."

"Then promise to try," the Morlock insisted. "And if you cannot, at least promise to get rid of Crowley."

That Caspian could do. Crowley had to be stopped. Caspian could not allow him to revive the Serpent Queen. He could not allow him to go back to England and hunt down Edmund or any of the other Pevensies. He would die before he let Susan or her siblings be hurt by Crowley or by the witch who destroyed his family in Narnia.

"I'll get rid of Crowley," Caspian vowed. "I swear it."

The Morlock nodded, satisfied. "The other humans are in cages in another tunnel. They still sleep. Once they wake I come back and help you get out. They useless until they awake."

"Understood."

The Morlock slid the torch through the bars, into Caspian's cell. "You keep," he said. "Rest. Eat. I come back when it's time."

AN: Sorry this chapter's on the short side. I'm about to head out for the rest of the day and I ran out of time. Next chapter will be up Friday. Thank you everyone who reviewed including: diva divine, Emmaline, amber'eyed'countess, and the anonymous reviewer who didn't leave a name.

merlyn2 – I'd forgotten about the Arthurian reference in Voyage of the Dawn Treader (if I ever even caught it). I definitely need to reread the series, paying careful attention for stuff like that, but I loaned my books to a friend last winter who still hasn't returned them. Maybe I should just replace them . . . and stop loaning out my books. People are always really bad about returning them but I never learn . . .

HeadBangGirl – Don't worry, Crowley's definitely going to get what he deserves. Kidnapping Caspian, like revealing spoilers and using initials in Scrabble, is an unpardonable sin.

mae-E – You're right about being able to hitchhike by touching someone who's using a ring, but you'll see in the next chapter that Edmund, Eustace, and Jill were all put in separate cages so that presents a bit of a problem. Also, Shif'tla is actually quite intelligent but just plays dumb in front of Crowley – I don't think I did a very good job getting that point across, sorry. But, pretty soon there will be a revelation that will let people know just how devious and conniving this guy really is.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Edmund! Edmund wake up!"

A voice cut through the thick fog in Edmund's mind. There was urgency in it. Urgency and fear. The combination of the two chased away the last wisps of drowsiness in Edmund's mind and he instantly became alert.

He opened one eye but other than that didn't move a muscle. There had been plenty of times in Narnia when he'd been in dangerous situations. He'd trained himself to wake up and take stock of his surroundings without making any unnecessary movements that could alert adversaries.

"Edmund!"

He was in a dark place . . . underground. He knew that because the air was cool and smelled musky, like soil and stagnant water. There were other scents too . . . something smoky and salty, sort of like a butcher's shop. The only light he saw came from an open flame that burned somewhere else in the room. It cast flickering shadows on the raw stone walls. The shadows that fell across his face were straight like stripes. It didn't take Edmund long to realize those shadows were being made by bars.

"Edmund! Please!"

"I say, Cousin! Wake up already!"

Jill and Eustace were there too then – wherever there was. Suddenly memory flooded Edmund's mind and he bolted straight up, so fast that Jill actually uttered a slight scream. He started to turn toward her but cracked his head on the low ceiling of his cage.

He growled against the pain. "Son of a -!"

All three of them were in different cages, Edmund saw immediately, each cage separated by a good two meters. And the light, the open flame he'd registered in his initial observations, came from a pit on the other side of the room. There was a contraption of charred logs built over the pit, some sort of spit for roasting meat. And there was a pile of bones beside of it. The pile contained plenty of humanoid shaped skulls.

"Wonderful," Edmund muttered. "We're in the Morlocks' kitchen."

"You're awake," Eustace said, sounding even thicker than normal.

"Am I really?" Edmund asked.

"Well, you're either awake or talking in your sleep –"

"Shut up, Eustace. Learn to distinguish sarcasm," Edmund snapped. He turned his gaze toward Jill. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

Jill nodded but looked miserable. "My head's a little spinny from whatever they hit us with, but I'm okay."

_Drugs,_ Edmund remembered. _Something stung me – a dart. We were all hit with them. _That probably contributed to Eustace's vacant remarks. Possibly even to the irritable buzzing in the back of his mind, though it was just as likely that that came from letting the Morlocks get the drop on him and kidnap him. Edmund hated being caught with his guard down. At that moment he was more annoyed with himself than he was at Eustace. Of course that was probably nothing compared to what Peter felt – and surely he knew by now that they were missing. Edmund was not looking forward to explaining this to him, but trying to delay it was senseless. Edmund preferred not to stay for dinner with the Morlocks.

"Time to use our rings," he told Eustace and Jill. This classified as an emergency in Edmund's book – or at the very least as a situation that it would be better to extricate themselves from. If it was just him Edmund would have considered breaking out and taking a look around – seeing if perhaps Caspian was somewhere else in the cave or seeing if he could find the exit and make it back to the Eloi village. But it wasn't just him and there was little chance that Jill and Eustace would be okay with him staying there while they fled. Dragging them along with him wasn't an option. They were unarmed and untrained. Edmund's most dangerous weapon was the pocketknife he'd hidden in his boot. The dagger on his belt had been taken by those damn thieving Morlocks.

Edmund reached into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief he'd folded around his rings.

"Edmund . . ." Jill sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"It's okay," Edmund told her. "It's easy enough to get out of here. We'll just meet the others back –"

"It's not okay!" Jill cut him off. "I . . . I lost my rings."

"Bloody hell, Pole!" Eustace shouted. "How could you be so careless?"

"Eustace, shut up!" Edmund said angrily. "You are not helping."

"I'm sorry," Jill said. She bowed her head, wrapped her arms around her knees, and pulled them to her chest. "I'm s-s-s-sorry!"

"Jill," Edmund said firmly. "Jill, look at me." He waited until she obeyed before continuing. "It's going to be okay," he told her. "Do you understand me?"

Jill jerked her head in a nod. "Y-y-you t-two should g-g-go," she said, fighting back sobs with every word. "I b-be okay here."

"Like hell!" Eustace said flatly. "There's no way I'm leaving you. Not after all we've been through together."

"You're not staying here alone, Jill," Edmund told her and smiled. "I am."

"W-what? No," Jill said immediately. "No, Edmund, you c-c-can't."

"Jill lost her rings, Edmund's lost his mind, what next?" Eustace asked, annoyed.

"You could lose your attitude problem and think about this rationally," Edmund told him. "I can get out of this cage – but it will take some time. If the Morlocks come before that, I'm the only one who has chance of fighting my way past them. I can't do that if I have to be watching out for the two of you."

"There's no guarantee that you can do that though," Eustace protested.

"There's no sense in all of us staying," Edmund pointed out. "And while we're sitting here arguing we're wasting time that I could be using to get out of this cage. Right now the two of you are going to listen to me. I'm the oldest. I have the most battle experience and have been in the most sticky situations. This plan has a better chance of getting all three of us through this alive than anything else I can think of."

"And you've given it what, ten seconds worth of thought?" Eustace muttered.

"My ability to think fast was what made me such a good general," Edmund said with a smirk. He checked and made sure that his rings were still in the folds of his handkerchief then tied the fabric in a knot so that they wouldn't fall out. "We're doing this my way," he told them in the cold, resolute voice that always got him his way. He rarely used it, but not even Peter in one of his High King moments would go against Edmund's judgment when he spoke like that.

He tossed his handkerchief through the bars of his cage with just the right amount of force. It hit the ground several feet in front of Jill's cage and its momentum slid it the rest of the way to her.

"You two go now," he ordered.

Eustace clenched his teeth and looked disgusted. "I don't like this," he said. "I just wanted to make that clear."

"Noted."

"I'm so, so sorry about this, Edmund," Jill said. "It's all my fault . . ."

_Actually, things worked out quite well this way,_ Edmund thought, but didn't voice those thoughts out loud. "It's okay," he told her. "I'll be okay. I've gotten out of much worse situations than this. When I meet you back at the village I'll tell you about some of them."

Jill looked like she was about to cry. "I'm holding you to that," she told him. "So you have to be okay."

"I will be. Aslan's watching over us, remember? Now go."

Eustace heaved an over-exaggerated sigh. "I'll see you soon, Cousin."

"I'm sorry," Jill whispered once more.

Then they were gone.

"That took long enough," Edmund muttered and fished his knife out of his boot. He unfolded it and quickly began cutting through the twine that held the bars of his cage in place. He only had to remove two of the bars to create a space big enough for him to squeeze out of his cage. The whole process took about two minutes – less time than he'd spent arguing with Jill and Eustace.

Once he was out of the cage Edmund took stock of his inventory. He had his pocketknife. It was razor sharp and made of good steel, but its blade was only five inches long. There was also the pouch of caltrops he'd made. Those would be quite useful in the narrow tunnels, as would his flashlight. In a pinch he could use the torch to bludgeon off an enemy, just as he'd done in the past. He added another weapon to his repertoire – a long, jagged knife that he picked up off a slab of stone by the fire. Its blade was about as long as his forearm and thinner near the handle than it was at the other end. From the looks of it, it seemed to be designed to cleave straight through bones. It was heavy and not balanced for combat but it was better than nothing.

Footsteps echoed through the tunnels just as he picked up the knife. Edmund hurried to stand right beside the entrance and pressed himself against the wall. He strained his ears, trying to determine how many people the footsteps belonged to.

_Two,_ he decided, noting the patterns of resonances. _Shouldn't be a problem as long as they don't see it coming. _

And they didn't see it coming. Edmund made sure of that. He kept his back pressed against the wall as they entered the kitchen. Once the second one had passed him he made his move. The pocketknife was his choice weapon for this assassination. He stepped up behind the Morlock and stabbed the five inch blade right under the base of the Morlock's skull, through his brainstem, killing him instantly. The creature didn't even have a chance to gasp in pain or cry out in surprise.

Not so for his companion. The other Morlock froze when he turned his head and saw the empty cages. "Dinner gone!" he snarled and spun around.

Edmund let the first Morlock he killed slump to the floor and jumped over its corpse. He raised the primitive kitchen knife and drew it back to get better leverage before he struck. The other Morlock registered the danger and threw his hands in front of him to try to ward off the attack. When Edmund struck it with the meat cleaver the blade went straight through one of the Morlock's arms, muscle, bone, and al. A dull _thump_ sounded as it sunk into his chest but got stuck in its breastbone. The Morlock howled. Edmund swore and silenced it by swiping his pocketknife across its throat.

"That was easy enough," Edmund muttered as the Morlock fell to the ground, gargling on its own blood. He removed the iron knife from its chest and fled into the tunnels.

It didn't take him long to realize that navigating the tunnels wouldn't be as easy as he thought. There were dozens of forks and branches that seemed to be going off in every direction. Within a minute of exiting the kitchen chamber Edmund was thoroughly lost in the maze.

The tunnels formed a veritable labyrinth and with no idea which way he'd come from or which way he should be going Edmund might have stumbled around lost for a very long time had the orange glow of firelight coming from a side tunnel not caught his eye.

It was the first thing that was noticeably different from everything else that Edmund had seen so far, so naturally he headed toward it. He actually had a sinking feeling that he'd ended up right back where he started – at the kitchen with its open fire pit. When he saw the shadows of bars he thought that his fear had just been confirmed but it only took him a moment to realize that he was wrong. The tunnel didn't open out onto a room – it led to a dead end that had been sectioned off by rusted bars that looked like part of some ancient jail cell. And in that jail cell, looking thoroughly miserable was –

"Caspian!"

Caspian's head snapped up at the familiar voice. His eyes darted toward Edmund and he stared at him in disbelief. "Edmund?" he asked incredulously, immediately moving forward. "What – how did you get here?"

A smile lit Edmund's face as he moved closer to his friend. "Come on, Caspian. You didn't really think we'd let you just disappear, did you?"

"No – I mean I knew you would look, but I did not think you would manage to find me after I learned that I'd been dragged off to another world," Caspian told him. "And how did you get here so fast? I cannot have been gone longer than three days . . ."

Edmund blinked. "Caspian . . . you've been missing almost two weeks."

It was Caspian's turn to blink. "That is not possible."

"What's not possible is hunting you down in another world in only two days." Edmund studied the rusty bars that were keeping Caspian prisoner. "We've got to get you out of here," he said distractedly. A part of his mind dimly realized that that comment made him sound like he was trying to give Eustace a run for his money where stating the obvious was concerned, but the larger part of his mind had found something bigger to worry about.

Time was obviously passing faster in their home world than it was in this world. If they didn't get home quickly there would be a lot of difficult questions to answer.

End of Chapter Fourteen

Thank you everyone who reviewed including: diva divine, Anne Amazon, HeadBangGirl, Shahzadi, garnetred, amber'eyed'countess, and maristelle

merlyn2 – I haven't read "That Hideous Strength," but I probably should. The few ideas that I have so far don't sound similar to what you said, but I wouldn't want to unintentionally write something that mirrored that book. Thanks for mentioning that.

Miniver – Yay! Someone figured it out. I was starting to worry that I might be blindsiding everyone with that because no one mentioned that they got it yet – until you. *cheers*

mae-E – Shi'ftla has his own agenda. If he's helping someone it's only so that he can advance his own plans. Also, your idea about listening to the audio book version while I do other work was a good one, but I don't think it would work for me. I tend to tune out everything that's going on around me while I'm reading or writing – a habit I developed while living in college dorms, lol. It's too bad though, b/c last time I was at Barnes and Noble I saw they had the entire Chronicles of Narnia on CD in their bargain section, unabridged for only twelve dollars. I almost bought it but I knew I'd never manage to listen to all of it so it would have been a waste. I think I'll probably end up getting the omnibus to save space on my bookshelf and to save money.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Do you think we can break these bars?" Edmund asked.

Caspian shook his head. "I've tried. They're studier than they appear."

He still couldn't believe that Edmund was really there. He knew that the Pevensies would search for him but he never thought they'd actually succeed in finding him, much less in such a short amount of time.

"There's a lock," Caspian pointed out to Edmund, "but I can't reach it easily and have nothing to pick it with even if I could."

Edmund gave a satisfied smirk and fished a piece of twisted wire out of a pouch on his belt.

"Caltrops?" Caspian asked as his friend began to unbend the sharp points. "Those might come in handy during our escape."

"Do you know the way out?" Edmund asked as he inserted the wire into the keyhole.

Caspian shook his head. "I was unconscious when they brought me in."

"Me too." Edmund sighed.

"Perhaps I could help with that," said a voice from the entrance of the tunnel.

Edmund jumped about three feet into the air then spun around. He took one look at the ape-faced Morlock who'd spoken then drew back his arm, ready to throw his pocketknife at it.

"Wait!" Caspian said quickly. "Don't kill him, Edmund. He might be able to assist us."

"Why would he do that?" Edmund asked warily.

"Because he wants us to get rid of Crowley for him."

The Morlock nodded enthusiastically. "Crowley bad. We hate him."

"Yet you help him," Edmund said. "You kidnapped Caspian as well as me and Jill and Eustace."

"Jill and Eustace?" Caspian asked, alarmed. "Where –"

"They used the rings," Edmund told him. "Jill lost hers so I gave her mine – it gave me a good excuse to stay behind and look for you but it means you and I are stuck getting out of here the old fashioned way."

"Crowley only told us to capture him," the Morlock said, motioning toward Caspian. "We caught you while we were hunting Eloi. I stopped others from killing and eating you earth people while you were asleep."

"Are you expecting me to thank you for that?" Edmund asked sourly.

"Thank me by killing Crowley," the Morlock told him.

Edmund's mouth twisted into a half smile at that. "Well," he said, "that sounds fair."

A shout echoed through the tunnels. The Morlock scowled and started forward quickly, only to draw up short as he found Edmund's blade leveled at his throat again. He froze and held up his hands in a non-threatening manner – in one he held a large, rusted key, in the other a sack made of heavy cloth. He let the bag drop but held onto the key.

"I don't trust you," Edmund said flatly. "Put the key down and step away from it."

The Morlock obeyed. "Your weapons are in the bag," he said as he stepped back.

Edmund retrieved the key first and used it to unlock Caspian's cell. He kept his attention focused on the Morlock the entire time. It was Caspian who opened the bag and found the weapons that Edmund and Eustace must have been relieved of when they were captured – two swords and one belt knife.

"You must hurry," the Morlock told them. "Others come soon."

"Does Crowley know that you brought other humans here?" Caspian asked.

The Morlock shrugged. "Others might have told him. I told them not to but their memories are not long."

"You got a name, Morlock?" Edmund asked.

The Morlock nodded. "Shi'ftla."

"All right then, Shift," Edmund said dryly. "You're coming with us."

"My name is Shi'ftla," the Morlock said indignantly.

"Yeah, well I can't pronounce that, so Shift it is," Edmund told him. "And you're still coming with us."

Shi'ftla – or Shift as Edmund had dubbed him – shook his head quickly. "It is almost the bright time. The light will hurt –"

"That is too bad," Caspian told him, "but you are still coming with us."

"I can tell you the way –"

"Or you could tell us the wrong way and we'd end up trapped like rats in this bloody labyrinth," Edmund reasoned. "That's why you're coming with us – so that if you betray us and give us bad directions that will get us killed you'll go down with us."

Shift looked like he wanted to protest but was smart enough not to argue with two men armed with swords. He hesitated then jerked his head in a nod. "This way," he said. "We must hurry."

X

Jill choked and spluttered and flailed when her head broke the surface of the water. Thankfully this time she'd managed to appear at the side of the pool. She clawed her way up over the edge, onto the grass and heaved a sigh of relief. Out the corner of her eye she saw Eustace doing the same thing.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Eustace nodded. "You?"

Jill nodded. "I hope Edmund's okay."

"I hope so too." Eustace sighed. "You had to lose your rings."

"I didn't mean to!"

"You still lost them."

Jill hung her head. She was glad that she was dripping with water so that Eustace couldn't see her tears. "We should go back," she said, clutching Edmund's rings.

"Maybe we should rest here first," Eustace suggested.

Jill shook her head. "Remember the plan," she told him. "If we have to use the rings we meet back at the place where we first entered the world – in the jungle where Edmund carved that X on the tree."

"But here we know we're safe," Eustace argued. "We should regain our strength –"

"Remember what Professor Kirke told us?" Jill said. "If we fall asleep here we might never wake up."

Eustace sighed and looked disgusted. "And we just got out of the water," he muttered.

Jill lowered herself back into the water, staying close to the edge in case she needed to get out again. She held onto the side until Eustace was back in the pool as well, then let go and went under. She clenched her fist around her green ring and heard a whooshing noise, like water and wind rushing past her ears. The next thing she knew she was back in the jungle, right where she, Eustace, and the Pevensies had first appeared – and she was not alone.

"Eustace! Jill!" Lucy leapt up from the log she'd been sitting on.

"Good, you're back," Peter said, moving forward. Jill felt a pang of guilt as she watched his expression change from relieved to confused then to worried. "Where's Ed?"

"He . . . I . . ."

"Pole somehow lost her rings," Eustace said. "Edmund tossed his to her from his cage and told us to escape."

"You left him?" Susan's voice rose shrilly.

"I'm sorry," Jill said, cringing. "I don't know how it happened –"

"They fell out of your pocket when you were abducted," Lucy told her.

"I'm sorry –"

"It doesn't matter now," Peter said. "Edmund matters the most right now. Do you know where you were taken?"

Jill shook her head.

"Not a clue," Eustace told them. "We were all unconscious until we woke up in cages underground."

"Then how are we supposed to find him, damn it?" Susan demanded.

"H-he thought that he could escape on his own," Jill told her. "He told us to go. He said he had a better chance if we weren't there."

"That sounds like him," Peter muttered. "The idiot."

"He's not an idiot!" Jill snapped. "He's brave. He's a hero."

"He's an idiot and so are you," Eustace told her.

"Shut up, Scrubb!"

"You two aren't helping," Lucy said before Eustace could retaliate. She turned to her brother. "What do we do now?"

Peter looked troubled, understandably. "We'll go back to the village," he decided. "Then we'll try tracking the Morlocks back to their lair."

"We should have done that to begin with," Susan muttered.

"We had a plan," Peter reminded her. "If anyone had to use their rings to escape we'd meet up back here. Second guessing ourselves and abandoning the plan is bad tactics. It's a recipe for disaster."

"So is trying to escape from the Morlocks alone," Susan said.

"Believe me, Edmund and I will be having a talk about that," Peter vowed.

"I am sorry that I forced him to do that," Jill whispered.

"You didn't," Lucy told her. "Honestly, Edmund was probably looking for an excuse to get you and Eustace safely out of there so he could scout the Morlocks' caves out on his own. It would have killed him to escape without even trying to see if Caspian was there."

End of Chapter 15

AN: Next chapter will be up Friday. Kudos to Miniver and anyone else who figured out what I was planning for Shi'ftla before Edmund renamed him. And as always thanks to everyone who reviewed:

merlyn2 and Miniver – Our heroes problems are far from over; soon they'll have to decide not only what to do about Crowley but what to do about the Morlocks as well. Happy endings come at a high price, lol.

diva divine: Caspian and Edmund felt like taking a Morlock hostage before finding everyone else – it beats stopping for a Coke.

HeadbangGirl – I hope I didn't gross anyone out too much with Edmund's ruthless efficiency. Sorry!

Garnetred – If Crowley had found out that Edmund and co had been captured before they escaped he definitely would have tried to use it to his advantage somehow. Those rings would probably be a jailor's worst nightmare.

Mae-E – Whenever I carpool or take the bus to work I usually either write my stories out longhand or edit previously written manuscripts. Most of this story's chapters were actually written while I was commuting. I've got dozens of composition books that I've filled up with writing that I'm kind of proud of, lol. Anyway, I'm planning to replace my Narnia books tomorrow when I go to pick up the new Dan Brown book – then I'm going on a reading rampage!

Next chapter will be up Friday. Thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The Morlocks' tunnels were dark and deep. Caspian didn't know how Edmund had managed to find him – there were no distinguishing marks on any of the stones, nothing to guide a haplessly lost human from one part of that twisting hellhole to another. Without their helpful Morlock guide Caspian had no doubt that they would have been lost in no time at all.

"Remember," Edmund whispered to Shift, "if you lead us into a trap or betray us or try to signal your comrades, you die. I have absolutely no problem fighting my way out of these tunnels and marking off the dead ends with blood."

Shift looked far from happy but nodded. "I understand."

Twice they came across Morlocks in the tunnels. The first time there were only two Morlocks and they were unarmed. Caspian quickly dispatched of them while Edmund kept his sword trained on Shift. The second time they happened across Morlocks there were eight and these were ready for a fight.

Caspian and Edmund only had time to exchange one glance before both were forced to dive headfirst into battle. The odds were bad, Caspian knew. Eight against two was far from fair, even if the eight had inferior weapons, but Caspian and Edmund were both well trained. By Caspian's count he had no less than fifty-five years worth of training with the sword, and Edmund had upwards of twenty. Put that experience into warriors whose bodies were in their prime, with the speed and flexibility of youth and the results were devastating for anyone standing against them. Add to that the fact that both were brilliant tacticians and the Morlocks never had a chance.

Caspian and Edmund took advantage of the tunnel's narrow width, which kept several of their opponents out of weapon's reach and prevented them from being surrounded or otherwise overwhelmed. They fought side by side, matching each other's movements, their styles complementing each other, covering the other when an opening was left. Anyone watching might have thought the fight was choreographed, the two kings moved in such perfect, deadly harmony.

Two Morlocks were dead before they even knew they were under attack. The next two barely had time to defend themselves. The third pair was ready for the attack but not for the shower of sparks that flew in their faces when the untempered metal of their weapons collided with the high grade steel of Caspian's and Edmund's swords. Both kings were unphased by the light but the Morlocks' light sensitive eyes put them at a distinct disadvantage. They cringed backward, leaving openings right and left. Openings which were not ignored by the Narnian kings.

The last pair put up no more of a fight than the second or third sets. They were disheartened by their comrades' swift defeat and were hesitant to step over their friends' corpses to attack. Neither Caspian nor Edmund showed an ounce of mercy to the kidnapping cannibals. Both had been through too much in the past few days to be overly concerned about the welfare of their enemies.

When the last Morlock fell Caspian spun around, expecting to find that Shift had taken advantage of the commotion to flee, but to his surprise the ape-faced Morlock stood there calmly, regarding the carnage with a calculating expression. Seeing the gleam in his eyes, Caspian found himself almost wishing that the Morlock had fled like a coward. He quickly squelched that thought though – if Shift had fled they'd be down a guide.

"Still here, are you?" Edmund asked. Only someone who knew him well would have caught the wariness in his voice. A glance at his friend was all it took for Caspian to know that Edmund had the same misgivings about Shift as he himself had.

"We have a deal," Shift said, looking at Caspian. "I help you escape, you get rid of Crowley. I am upholding my end."

"And I'll uphold mine," Caspian told him. _But I don't trust you,_ he added silently._ In fact I trust you even less now than I did when we made that agreement._

Initially he'd thought that Shift wanted Crowley gone so that the Morlocks would be free from his oppression. So that they'd be safe from Crowley's mad antics. But by standing by apathetically as Caspian and Edmund cut down his fellow Morlocks, Shift had shown them that that was not likely to be the case.

_There will be time to worry about what he's up to later, _Caspian decided. "Lead on," he told the Morlock. "I want to see the light of day already."

When they finally reached the cave's opening, Shift's reaction was quite a bit different from Caspian's. The Morlock hissed and covered his eyes while Caspian ignored him and took a deep breath of humid jungle air. After breathing the stale air of the caves the entire time he was held captive, the thick forest's warmth was a welcome change.

"I helped you get out," Shift said. "Now I'm going back –"

"No you're not," Edmund told him. "You're going to show us the way back to the Eloi's village. Then we're going to sit down with the rest of our team and you're going to tell us everything you know about Crowley and how he's been traveling through the worlds."

X

Peter couldn't believe the way things were turning out. It just seemed like one thing after another kept going wrong. And while he trusted Edmund to look after himself and there was a limit to how much he could tolerate. Edmund always pushed that limit. Always.

Edmund had always been big on taking risks – calculated risks he called them, but they were risks all the same. And he was either amazingly lucky or did a lot more calculating than Peter gave him credit for because those risks almost never backfired on him. Still, it grated at Peter's nerves every time Edmund did something dangerous.

The walk back to the Eloi village was long and depressing. The rising temperature did nothing to improve anyone's mood as the morning gave way to noon and the air grew heavy with condensation. Eustace started acting like his usual annoying self not long after they set off. Susan's worry over Edmund and Caspian manifested itself in the form of sharp words to their cousin and to Jill whenever the younger girl spoke up or lagged behind. Lucy tried to placate her older sister, and Peter knew that he should be doing something to try to help her, but he couldn't find the words or the heart to voice them.

"Are you all right?" Lucy asked just after noon when they stopped for a break. "You look like you're very . . . stressed."

Peter shook his head. "I'm fine. It's Edmund I'm worried about."

"He'll be all right."

"He better be," Peter muttered. "I refuse to have to explain to Dad that I got my brother killed."

"Edmund makes his own choices."

"But I brought him here," Peter reminded her.

Lucy looked mildly exasperated. "He would have come whether you agreed to it or not."

"I know. But I'm here, so it's my job to watch out for him and everyone else."

"Yes, but you're not the only one watching out for us, remember?" Lucy asked.

Peter looked at her blankly.

"Who led us to this world?" Lucy asked. "Who let us into Narnia every time?"

"Aslan . . ."

"He's been watching over us all along."

"It would be nice if he'd make an appearance," Peter told her.

A rustling sound reached Peter's ears from somewhere close by – leaves and vines being trodden down or pushed aside. Instantly he was on full alert, on his feet, sword at the ready.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, alarmed. She stood as well but didn't draw her gun, though her hand twitched as though she might reach for it at any moment.

Susan's bow was out in a flash, an arrow on the string.

"What's going on?" Eustace asked. Loudly. Announcing their position to whoever or whatever was out there.

Peter ignored him and strained his ears. He heard the sound again and caught Susan's eye then nodded toward the direction the noise was coming from. Susan inclined her head slightly, signaling her understanding and Peter crept forward.

_Something's not right_, Peter realized even as he was moving. It was full daylight and the Morlocks hated the light. It had been dark and dismal when Edmund and the others were captured but at that moment it was as bright as Peter had ever seen that world.

The noise sounded again, closer this time, setting Peter's nerves on end. Then the thick growth of leaves and vines right in front of Peter began to move. Peter gave a battle cry and sprang forward, leading with his sword.

CLANG!

His sword was deflected by another blade and Peter found himself staring into dark, amused eyes.

"Peter!"

"Edmund?" Peter asked incredulously.

"We surrender," another familiar voice said. Caspian stepped forward looking pale and exhausted but his eyes sparkled with their usual good humor.

"Caspian!" Susan cried and flung herself forward.

Caspian caught her around the waist and pulled her in close and hugged her, like a drowning man clutching a life line. He tilted his face slightly so that he could kiss the top of Susan's head and then wrapped his arms around her even tighter. "I thought I would not see you again in this life," he said softly. So softly that Peter didn't think he'd been meant to overhear that.

Suddenly Susan braced both of her palms against Caspian's chest and shoved him backward, away from her. Caspian let go and looked at her confused and worried. Then he just looked confused as Susan smacked her hand across his face so hard that the sound of flesh striking flesh echoed through the jungle.

"You idiot!" Susan cried, looking at Caspian as though she truly hated him. "You careless cretin! You dim-witted beast! How dare you just disappear like that?"

Caspian caught her hand as she drew it back to slap him again. He pressed it to his lips and kissed it before quickly lowering it and reaching for Susan's other hand. "I am sorry," he said softly. "I never intended to leave."

Susan was on the verge of tears as she squeezed Caspian's hands. "Don't ever do that again," she told him. "Ever."

"I will not," Caspian told her. "I prom-"

His promise was cut off as Susan chose that moment to kiss him.

And Eustace's wolf whistle was cut off as Edmund chose that moment to elbow his younger cousin in the stomach.

"I say!" Eustace choked, glaring up at Edmund. "That was entirely uncalled for."

"Save it, Eustace," Peter said and caught Edmund's eye. "You and I are going to have a talk once we get back to the Eloi village."

Edmund gave a mischievous smile. "Of course. We're all going to have a talk. All us Pevensies, Jill, Eustace, Caspian, and our new friend Shift."

Peter turned his gaze in the direction that Edmund indicated when he said the last name, and his eyes fell on a very sorry looking Morlock. It took him a moment to process what he was seeing and for a moment he was shocked speechless.

Eustace and Jill however, were not. "Bloody hell!" Eustace yelped as Jill shrieked and retreated behind Edmund.

Peter finally found his voice and gave Edmund a look that let him know he was not amused. "A long talk," he told his brother. "A _very_ long talk."

End of Chapter 16

AN: The next chapter will be posted next Friday. I'm going to be out of town and most likely will not have internet access for the majority of the week, so sadly I will not be able to post a chapter this Monday.

Thank you everyone who reviewed including: diva divine, garnetred, merlyn2

Shahzadi – there might be some development in that relationship, but it's going to take a whole other story to tell it.

Ash12345 – you're right, I should have had Caspian ask about Susan in the last chapter. There wasn't room to add that in this chapter – Caspian and Edmund were too busy pwning Morlocks to talk much. I hope you enjoyed the reunion between Caspian and Susan at least.

mae-E – Yes, Shift was the name of the Ape in The Last Battle who brought about the Narnian apocalypse. Coincidence? No, not at all, lol. Also, you were right about how if they kill Crowley they have no guarantees that the Morlocks won't turn on them, but Edmund and Caspian at least are well aware that the Morlocks can't be trusted, Shift least of all.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Edmund knew he was in big trouble when Peter didn't speak again for the rest of the trek back to the Eloi village. The silent treatment was always, always a prelude to an explosion. Peter didn't have much of a temper. He was patient and rational and usually had nerves of steel. It took a lot to get him to blow up but when he did . . . well, suffice it to say Edmund really was not looking forward to his talk with his big brother.

Shift was a model prisoner, which made things easier all around but somehow made Edmund trust him even less. He noticed that Caspian was keeping a wary eye on their Morlock friend as well, when he could spare a moment to stop looking adoringly at Susan. The happy couple walked hand in hand and Susan's knuckles were pale from holding on so tight. Under different circumstances they probably would have slipped away for some privacy but that wasn't really an option with things in their current state, so they had to be content with holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. Edmund remembered the ring he'd found in Caspian's suitcase. He wondered how soon Caspian would put it to good use.

But oddly the person who weighed the heaviest on Edmund's mind as they walked back to the village was not his furious brother, their unsettlingly well behaved prisoner, or his emotional sister. The person Edmund found himself worried the most about was Jill.

She had a very forlorn expression on her face and when she glanced his way and saw him watching her she quickly looked away and wouldn't meet his eyes. Edmund frowned and made his way toward her. He fell in step beside her but she still wouldn't look at him.

"Hey," he said finally to get her attention.

Jill turned her face toward Edmund but continued to avoid eye contact. "Yes?" she asked softly.

"Everything okay?" Edmund asked. It was a dumb question he knew – everything was obviously not okay, not with Jill Pole at least. Edmund wasn't that great at handling emotional problems. He managed well enough where his own family was concerned but he knew his family and had a lot of practice at that. He barely knew Jill despite the fact that she was another of Aslan's chosen champions. She didn't live very close by and she was more Eustace's friend than any of theirs. Still, she was one of them, which made her problem Edmund's problem as well. He had to at least try to help her even if his attempts were . . . well . . . less than eloquent.

"Yeah," Jill answered his question. She kept her gaze fixed on the trail ahead of them.

"You sure?" Edmund pressed.

"Yeah," Jill said again.

"Then why do you look like someone ran over your dog?" Edmund asked. He searched his mind, trying hard to think of what could have put Jill in such low spirits. Then it hit him. "The others haven't been giving you a hard time, have they?" he asked her. "About losing your rings?"

Edmund knew he'd hit the mark when Jill's cheeks flushed.

"It's not your fault," he told her. "It could have happened to anyone."

"Yeah, well . . ."

"You didn't lose them on purpose, did you?" he asked.

"What? No!" Jill snapped out of her monotony and finally gave a heartfelt answer. "I'd never do something like that on purpose."

Edmund smiled at her. "I know," he said. "You put tucked them deep in your pocket where you thought they'd be safe. You couldn't have known they'd get dislodged by a Morlock dragging you across the ground or going through your pockets."

"It still shouldn't have happened," Jill said, bowing her head. "It was careless of me."

Edmund clamped his hand down on her shoulder and waited until she finally looked up and met his eyes. "It could have happened to any one of us," he told her.

"But it happened to me. _Because_ of me," Jill emphasized. "I was the one who forced you into that pinch –"

"And it all worked out for the best," he said firmly. "If you hadn't lost your rings I never would have had the chance to search the Morlock's caves alone – and I sure as hell couldn't search them with you and Eustace in tow, no offense. If I hadn't gotten the chance to search the caves then I wouldn't have found Caspian."

"Yeah, well . . . It's good that something good came out of it but I still messed up," Jill said, but her words weren't weighed with as much guilt as they'd been moments before.

"I was glad when I heard you lost your rings," Edmund admitted.

Jill looked up at him in shock. "You what?" she asked disbelievingly.

"I was glad when you told me that you lost your rings," Edmund repeated. "I was trying to figure out a way to get you and Eustace to bail out with your rings and leave me to search on my own. You never would have left me unless it looked like you were out of other options and if you'd stayed you would have just gotten in my way. Well, maybe not you since you seem to know when to hang back but someone we know would have gotten in my way . . ." Edmund looked meaningfully at his cousin.

Jill looked thoughtful for a moment then the corner of her mouth quirked to one side. Edmund saw that she finally believed what he was telling her. Not only that, she also saw the logic of his plans. "How long did it take you to get out of your cage?" she asked finally.

"Less than a minute."

Jill choked on a laugh and quickly covered her mouth. "You could have come with us then," she said, but without any accusation in her voice. "The rings can take two people if they're touching. We could have all left together but you chose to stay behind."

"I chose to stay behind," Edmund confirmed. "My choice. So like I said, it wasn't your fault."

Jill looked much more at ease now. Edmund was glad.

"You okay now?" he asked.

Jill nodded. "Thanks, Edmund," she told him. "You're really . . ."

"Brash and impetuous?" Edmund supplied.

Jill shook her head. "Brave. And nice."

"There's about a dozen Morlocks who would disagree with you right now."

"You're cunning too," Jill said. "They couldn't argue with that."

Edmund laughed. "I guess not."

X

To say that the Eloi were surprised when the Pevensies and company returned with their Morlock prisoner was an understatement. For almost a full minute the village erupted in complete and utter pandemonium. The Eloi ran about every which way in panic. Some of them retreated into the treetop village and pulled up some of the ladders. Others ran into the forest. Others just ran around aimlessly, screaming and chattering like frightened animals.

Gradually though, it seemed to sink in that Shift was not a threat. His hands were bound behind his back, after all and there was a short length of rope with each end tied to one of his ankles that kept him from taking too big of steps. If he'd tried to flee during the trek back to the village he wouldn't have been able to move very fast. Most likely if he attempted to run he would have tripped and fallen on his ugly ape face.

Eventually fear gave way to awe as the Eloi realized what they were seeing.

"The strangers tamed a Morlock!"

"He's tied up! He's tied up! Those ropes don't let him attack!"

"They captured the Morlock!"

"He can't hurt us. The pale people beat him!"

Some of the bolder Eloi even came closer to get a better look at the captive Morlock, but stayed back what they perceived to be a safe distance.

It was left to Peter to negotiate with the Eloi about giving quarter to a Morlock. It wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be. He'd expected the Eloi to continue acting like they had initially – running about in panic, unable to calm down, irrational with fear. Instead the Eloi accepted the fact that a Morlock had been taken prisoner the same way they'd accepted the fact that the Pevensies and their friends existed – though they were decidedly more interested in the fact that Morlocks could be beaten.

Shift was quartered in another unused hut. They tied the door shut and decided to keep a guard posted at all times. No one trusted the Morlock even though he was being extremely cooperative. There was something unsettling about him. Peter couldn't quite put his finger on what it was but he saw the way Edmund and Caspian looked at the Morlock and knew that the feeling wasn't just in his head. The two of them had seen something that set them on edge. Peter would find out exactly what that was later though. At that moment he had a more immediate concern to deal with.

Once Shift had been confined to his hut and Eustace and Jill were in place in front of the hut's only entrance, Edmund separated himself from the rest of the group and walked to the edge of the village. Peter followed him, glad that Edmund saved him the trouble of pulling him aside. Peter scowled as he noted the way his brother leaned casually against the railing of the walkway and didn't even turn at his approach. He started to speak but was cut off as Edmund took the words right out of his mouth.

"What the hell was I thinking?" Edmund asked mildly.

Peter's scowl deepened. "What?"

"That's what you were about to ask." Now Edmund turned around and looked him straight in the eye. "'What the hell were you thinking, Edmund?'"

"Well?" Peter demanded. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I'd been given the golden opportunity to search the Morlocks' tunnels for Caspian," Edmund told him. "I was thinking that I'd been in much worse situations than that one and that I got out alive. I had faith that my skills would once again help me pull through."

"And it didn't occur to you how stupid your line of reasoning was?" Peter asked angrily.

"It wasn't stupid," Edmund shot back. "I weighed my decision's merits and dangers and decided that it was worth the risk."

"You were reckless!" Peter snapped. "Just because everything worked out for the best doesn't mean that was the right or smart thing to do! You could have been killed. You were alone in enemy territory with no back up and no lifeline. You would have been running blind if you busted your torch again or the batteries died. There were too damn many things that you didn't take into account before you took another one of your 'calculated' risks."

"What was I supposed to do? Just leave Caspian there?" Edmund asked.

"You should have come back with Eustace and Jill – and don't even pretend like that wasn't an option," Peter growled. "We both know that you had no problem getting out of your cage. We could have all tracked the Morlocks back to their caves and gone in _together_ to get Caspian out."

Edmund shrugged. "My way was faster."

"Your way was dangerous and reckless. You don't always have to play the hero, Ed!"

"Look, I'm sorry that I worried you but I knew what I was doing," Edmund said heatedly. "Believe it or not, I knew when I made that call that I'd end up standing in front of you, having this exact conversation – and it didn't deter me at all. I did what I thought was right and everything turned out okay in the end."

"That's not the point," Peter told him. "You deliberately put yourself in danger –"

"There wasn't an option where I could avoid all danger!" Edmund snapped. "There hasn't been since Crowley woke up and decided he couldn't get through the day without kidnapping one of our friends. I wish you'd just trust me!"

"I do trust you," Peter said, "but _I wish_ that you'd value your own life more. Because when you don't then the rest of us have to figure out how to compensate for that."

The muscle at the corner of Edmund's mouth jerked to one side as Peter hit a nerve.

"Instead of just figuring out what our next move should be I also have to come up with a contingency plan that takes into account the fact that you aren't there when we need you," Peter charged on. "It's an inconvenience and a waste of time that would be better spent on other more important things, so next time you have the urge to play the hero, stop and think about the affects your antics are going to have on the master plan." He knew it was the only way to get through to Edmund, but he hated having to reduce his brother to nothing more than his role in their strategy. More than that, it made Peter feel more than a little hypocritical – if he'd been in Edmund's position he probably would have done the exact same thing. Then it would have been Edmund berating him for acting rashly while he defended his own actions. But that aside, Peter's big brother complex couldn't allow him to condone Edmund's actions.

Edmund gave a curt nod. "Understood," he said tonelessly.

Peter sighed and looked back across the village. He saw Eustace and Jill slumped against the railing of the walkway right outside the hut they had Shift tied up in. Both looked like they were on the verge of falling asleep. A glance back at his brother revealed similar exhaustion even though Edmund hid it better.

"Go get some sleep," he ordered. "Take Jill and Eustace back to our hut too. I'll take over guard duty."

Edmund nodded again and started to turn away, his eyes dark and troubled.

"Ed?" Peter said quickly, before his brother got too far.

Edmund stopped and turned back around to face him.

"You know if you'd gotten yourself killed I would have had to beat your arse."

A spark of life flickered in Edmund's eyes. "Because you know I'd have to be dead for you to ever have a chance of doing that."

"Yes, keep deluding yourself, little brother," Peter quipped.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Edmund said, smirking wickedly as he turned away.

_I should've just let him sulk,_ Peter thought as he watched his brother go. It seemed like Edmund always got the last word. _Whatever helps me sleep at night . . . it's a long while until night . . . a long while before I'll even get a chance to sleep. Damn it . . ._

End of Chapter 17

Sorry about no chapter last Monday. This upcoming Monday (September 28) there will be a new chapter posted. Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter including:

maristelle – Happy belated birthday!

amber'eyed'countess – I'm glad you liked it!

merlyn2 and garnetred – did you happen to have a sense of déjà vu in the last chapter during the reunion scene?

Diva divine and kookey – I'm glad you liked Susan's reaction. I was hoping people wouldn't hate her for her coping mechanism – I thought it would be boring just to have a happy, romantic reunion scene so I added some violent reactions to liven it up, lol.

mae-E – thanks for all the insights. I hoped Peter and Edmund's argument in this chapter lived up to your expectations

boan and iya gurl – I'm glad you guys are enjoying my stories so far. It always makes me happy when people like what I write and new reviewers make my day. I'm working on an original story that I'll be serializing on my website – I'm going to try to get the first chapter up next week, so if you want to read more of my work you can keep an eye out for that.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Susan wished that it was cold. The tropical forest was too damn hot. If the temperatures were lower, she would have had a better excuse to curl up closer Caspian before they went to sleep. With things as they were though, doing that would have just been plain uncomfortable.

But it didn't matter that much in the end. Susan fell asleep the moment she closed her eyes. It didn't matter that it was only late afternoon or that she was excited beyond words that she was finally reunited with the love of her life. She was so exhausted that she didn't even know how she was able to climb up the ladder to the village. She hadn't really slept much since Caspian went missing. The strain of not knowing what happened to him and the stress of worrying about him had taken its toll on Susan. Once she was lying down beside him with the knowledge that they were both safe, the energy that had compelled her to find him at all costs dissipated.

When she woke up it was dark. Not the true dark of night, but the glowing gray of predawn morning. Susan yawned and rolled toward Caspian, expecting to still be asleep. She was mildly surprised to see that Caspian's warm brown eyes were open and watching her. There was a dreamy expression on his face which turned into a smile as she blinked at him.

"Good morning," he whispered.

"'Morning," Susan returned his greeting and his smile. "Did you sleep well?" she started to ask but Caspian put a finger over her lips and tilted his head to one side. Susan followed his gaze and saw that the rest of her family and their friends were still sleeping – except for Edmund who was missing, probably guarding Shift.

Caspian pushed himself off the blanket that served as his bedroll and got to his knees. Then he held out a hand to Susan. She took it immediately and allowed Caspian to pull her to her feet and lead her out of the hut.

"Did you sleep well?" Susan asked again once they were outside.

"Decently," Caspian told her.

Susan frowned. "You're lying to me."

Guilt flashed through Caspian's eyes. "Sorry," he said ruefully.

"Are you in pain?" Susan asked, concerned. She hadn't noticed any major injuries the previous day – she hoped that she hadn't over looked something important. "Were you hurt?"

Caspian shook his head. "I just had quite a bit to think about," he confessed, "and the darkness was somewhat . . . disconcerting."

"What do you mean?"

Caspian stopped at the edge of the walkway, beside one of the ladders which the Eloi had raised for the night. He sat down, and Susan, still holding his hand, sat down beside him. "I was in the dark most of the time that I was held captive," Caspian told her. "When I had my eyes closed . . . I could have been back there again."

"Caspian," Susan whispered, feeling her breath hitch.

Caspian squeezed her hand. "But watching you sleep made me feel better," he said quickly. "Being near you makes me feel better."

Susan forced a smile because she knew he needed one, and reached up to touch the side of Caspian's face. "You should try to rest though," she told him. "You do need to sleep too."

Caspian frowned.

"Here." Susan let go of Caspian's hand and shifted to the side, putting a bit of distance between them. Then she reached out and linked her hands behind Caspian's neck as though she was going to hug him, but instead of pulling herself closer to him, she pulled him toward her and guided him so that he was laying down, resting with his head in her lap. "Sleep," she whispered, smoothing his hair back from his brow.

Caspian gave in without a fight. "Yes, milady," he murmured. He closed his eyes and a look of peace fell over his face. Several minutes later his breathing grew slower and steadier as he drifted off.

"Sweet dreams, my love," Susan whispered and stared down at him lovingly. "I'll be here when you wake."

X

Jill woke up as Susan and Caspian left the hut, despite their best efforts to be silent. She watched them go, hand in hand, too groggy to realize what was really going on for several minutes, even after they'd disappeared into the silvery morning. When it finally sunk in, she sat bolt upright and stared through the empty doorway. A sickening feeling welled up inside her chest and without thinking she disentangled herself from her bedroll and scrambled outside after them.

Day had not broken yet and everything was still gray and misty, which made it a bit hard to see. The rest of the village was still asleep – the Eloi, it seemed, weren't early risers. Jill scanned the walkways for movement then chose a direction at random when she didn't see anyone. She padded across the wooden bridges, as quietly as she could, and after running into several dead ends, she finally saw a silhouette in the fog.

At first Jill was confused. She only saw Susan. Caspian was nowhere to be seen. She crept closer to investigate then drew up short as realization struck. Caspian was laying, asleep, with his head in Susan's lap. Susan's expression was serene, almost angelic, as she gazed down at Caspian. As Jill drew closer, snatches of the song that Susan was quietly singing floated to her ears.

_"All ya gotta do, is keep on smilin' through, you know just like you always do, until the blue skies drive the dark clouds far, far, far away . . ."_

Jill stopped walking and clenched the railing with one hand. Her throat suddenly felt tight.

_"I wantcha to do me a favor; please say 'Hello,' to all the folks that I know. Well, just tell 'em it won't be long. They'd be happy to know that when you saw me go, I was standin' right here, singin' this song . . ."_

Something about the scene before her struck a chord in Jill. It wasn't just the adoring look on Susan's face as she watched Caspian sleep, or the way Caspian looked so completely at peace in Susan's arms. It wasn't even the love song that Susan was singing so tenderly that it sounded more like a prayer than a lullaby. It was all of those things, swirled together, that conjured up the realization that stopped Jill in her tracks.

_They're in love_.

_"We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when. But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day . . ."_

"Jill?"

Jill jumped nearly a foot in the air then spun around to find Lucy watching her with concern. "L-Lucy?"

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked. She frowned at Jill then looked past her, at her sister, then returned her gaze to Jill. "Are you crying?"

Jill didn't realize that she was until that moment. Her eyes prickled and burned and a lump had risen in her throat that made breathing difficult. "No," she gasped and turned her face away from Lucy.

"I'm sorry that you're sad . . . but this can't be that big of a shock to you," Lucy said, sounding confused. "I mean . . . I know that you like Caspian. We all know that. But we all knew that he never had eyes for anyone other than Susan –"

"That's not it!" Jill protested. She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm not jealous. Not really . . ."

Lucy looked at her sympathetically then nodded back toward the way they'd come from. "Let's give them some space," she suggested.

Jill followed Lucy back toward the hut they'd slept in. They stopped a fair ways from it though, and Lucy turned back to Jill.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Jill nodded. "I'm not . . . not crying because Caspian loves Susan," she tried to clarify. "I'm not upset about that. I'm happy for them. I just . . . they're happy tears. I know that sounds crazy –"

"I cried the night that Dad came home and brought Caspian with him," Lucy told her.

Jill felt a stab of relief. Lucy understood. That made it a little bit easier – alleviated some of the burden of trying to explain her jumbled feelings. "It must be really . . . really great. To love someone that much," Jill said. "I just wish that I . . . that I had someone like that . . ."

Lucy nodded. "I know what you mean."

The two young women stood in silence for several minutes. Jill took deep breaths and struggled to control herself. "Hey, Lucy?" she asked finally.

"Yes?" Lucy asked.

"Do you think that there's someone like that for everyone? That there's just one person in the whole world – in all the worlds – that you're meant to be with?" Jill asked. "Someone who's perfect for you, the way Susan and Caspian are perfect for each other?"

Lucy was silent for a moment. "I don't know," she said finally. "I'd _like_ to think that . . . but I really don't know."

"I hope there is." Jill sighed. "But even if there is . . . I don't know if I'd recognize him when I saw him."

"If there is someone out there who's just right for everyone, I don't think a person would be able to recognize him or her just by sight alone," Lucy pointed out. "You wouldn't be able to tell just by their looks if they're someone you could love."

"True," Jill conceded.

"I think that if there is someone who's right for you – one person out of all the people in all the worlds – I think you'll probably recognize him when you're both ready," Lucy said. "When you've both grown into the people you need to be in order to be right for each other."

"That's a nice thought," Jill said. She smiled and glanced over her shoulder, toward Susan and Caspian. It was easier to see them now that day was breaking, and golden rays of sunlight were cutting through the mist. "I hope it's true," she told Lucy. "And I hope that I grow up enough to find him soon."

End of Chapter 18

Historical Note – the song that Susan is singing is "We'll Meet Again," a popular song from the World War II era, sung by Vera Lynn. It is, arguably, one of the most important songs of the era, as the message in the song's lyrics held great significance to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who left their loved ones to fight for what they believed was right. If you're not familiar with it, I recommend looking it up on YouTube – it's one of those songs that everyone should hear at least once.

AN: Next chapter will be up on Friday. In it the Pevensies and co. will try to figure out the best way to deal with Crowley – sadly not all the characters agree with giving him the zombie cure (cutting off his head or at least shooting him in it). Many thanks to everyone who reviewed:

boan – I'm glad you're still enjoying the story. I'm trying to do a better job of balancing out the amount attention given to each character – seven is more than I'm used to dealing with for this long. Hopefully this last scene helps make up for Lucy's smaller roles in the past few chapters.

HeadbangGirl – here's a new song to get stuck in your head, lol.

diva divine and merlyn2 – I'm glad to hear you liked the brother's conversation. In my original stories I'm working with some complicated sibling dynamics, so I'm glad that my practice here is being well received.

garnetred – It is a definite possibility that the Eloi will be inspired by seeing that Morlocks can be beaten.

mae-E – the treetop village's location actually isn't a secret. I think I mentioned something about the Morlocks knowing where it was in an earlier chapter – they'd been waiting right outside it when they ambushed Edmund, Eustace, and Jill after all. It's a safe place for the Eloi because they can pull up the ladders. As for your question about whether you'll get to see Caspian propose – that would be spoiling, lol. I already promised a happy ending, so you'll just have to wait and see for the rest of it.

Also thanks to: amber'eyed countess, Ash12345, and Miniver. I appreciate you guys taking the time to let me know what you think!


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Shift was tired.

Not physically. Being a prisoner of the earth people was a lot easier than daily life with the rest of the Morlocks. Life with the Morlocks was what he was tired of.

The world that Shift had been born into seemed to keep getting duller and duller. Trapping and killing Eloi, cooking Eloi, eating Eloi, and wondering why all the other Morlocks were so severely lacking in intelligence . . . Before Crowley's arrival that was all Shift had ever known.

The arrival of the earth man had stirred things up quite a bit. Crowley had taken out the strongest Morlocks, who led the tribe, with his death weapon and taken control of it himself. That had made sense, at least. It was the Morlock way – those who killed best ruled. Whether it was a Morlock who'd grown up in their caves or a vagrant from one of the other cave systems, it mattered very little. If someone killed one of the old leaders they took their place. No one had ever killed all of the old leaders before. That was something new. It was also interesting.

As was Crowley's fascination with all the stone carvings in the Morlocks' caves. The other Morlocks, no doubt, thought the earth man was mad, but he was the one with the death weapon and he wasn't really bothering anyone. Shift though, had watched as Crowley tried to decipher the pictures and symbols on the walls. He'd even lent his aid when he happened to know what a particular character meant, and he'd shared his knowledge of the Old Stories. In his younger days Shift had been quite interested in those. Other Morlocks had thought him foolish. The Old Stories had been a way to pass time once in awhile, when food was particularly plentiful and there was nothing better to do. Who would have thought that his knowledge of the Old Stories would have elevated him to a position of esteem one day?

Shift wondered what Crowley was doing now that he was gone. Most likely he was having difficulty conveying his wishes to the other Morlocks. Shift had always acted as an intermediary, translating Crowley's wishes into instructions that seemed practical to Morlocks. With Shift gone he was sure that Crowley would have a difficult time of it. Not that he truly cared. He just wished that he could have seen how frustrated Crowley became and how many Morlocks he used the death weapon on. That would have been amusing.

But not as amusing as what he learned from the other earth people – the ones who had taken him captive.

A guard was kept on him at all times. At first it was the two younger ones that the Morlocks had captured. From their conversation he learned that their names were Pole and Scrubb. They only stayed on guard outside of his door for a few minutes before being replaced by an older male with tawny gold hair and a dangerous look in his eyes. The tawny one guarded him for the rest of the afternoon, into the early evening before being replaced by Caspian. Caspian, in turn, was replaced by the dangerous dark haired one Shift had learned was called Edmund. Edmund took over guarding until dawn. All three of the males were quite boring. Since they didn't have company they weren't inclined to speak to anyone – not to Shift, not to themselves. Shift had assumed that talking to oneself was something all humans would do – Crowley sure did so often enough – but it seemed that was not the case.

Finally, as day was breaking and the accursed sun was rising and shedding its oppressing light on the top soil world once more, Pole returned to take over guarding, and with her was another small female. This one, he learned, was called Lucy, by Pole at least. It was possible though that she had another name. Pole, he learned, was also known as Jill.

Lucy and Pole were much better company. They chatted and regaled stories of their times in other worlds – both their own world and another world they called Narnia. They spoke of lands where there were many intelligent people who had motivations beyond just killing their food and eating it. Lands that Shift longed to see. The brief amount of time he'd spent in Crowley's Eng Land had awed him. The way the villages were so tall that they reached high into the strange gray sky, the layers of cold white dust that covered everything and turned to water when touched, the bitter chill of the wind, and the terrifying mechanized things that allowed earth people to travel very quickly . . . They were all alien but wonderful.

And from the way Lucy and Pole talked about the Narnia world, it seemed just as wonderful but significantly less scary – for the most part. Lucy told Pole about the hunts she and Edmund, as well as two people named Peter and Susan went on when they governed part of Narnia. She also talked about a voyage over vast amounts of water while Jill spoke of a journey she and Scrubb made through mountains. Narnia sounded like a place where Shift would very much like to go. It seemed as though it was inhabited by so many different types of intelligent creatures that Shift would not stand out there. It also lacked the terrifying devices of Eng Land which Shift was not certain he could deal with on a daily basis.

Gradually, as the sun rose, Shift drifted off to sleep, listening to the tales that the two girls told about Narnia. Several hours later he was roughly awakened when the door to his hut was flung open, letting in the burning sunlight. In the doorway stood Edmund and the tawny one. Behind them was everyone else. They stepped inside, eying Shift with varying degrees of distrust and loathing. He could tell from their eyes that they met business.

"You let me go now?" he asked, even though he knew what the answer to that was.

"No," Edmund confirmed.

"We had a deal," Shift growled, making a token attempt at being angry.

"The deal was that I would help you get rid of Crowley in exchange for helping us escape," Caspian said. "There were no conditions about taking you captive in our arrangement."

Shift eyed him suspiciously. "You get rid of Crowley then?" he asked.

"We intend to."

"You need my help?"

"We do. And you will help us," Edmund said, giving Shift an amiable smile. "If you don't then you're of no use to us. And if you're of no use to us –"

"Edmund," the tawny one cut him off.

"I'm not saying anything that isn't true, Peter," Edmund said, thus giving the tawny one a name. "If he won't help us then he isn't any use to us."

"You don't need to threaten him with death."

Edmund smirked. "I didn't say anything about killing him for being useless. That was all you."

"I don't get why we're bothering with this," Scrubb said. "We've got Caspian back. We should just go home. Leave Crowley here with the Morlocks since he loves them so much. This world's problems aren't our problems, after all."

"No one has told you yet?" Caspian asked suddenly.

"Told me what?"

There was a slight pause as Caspian looked to Edmund.

"I didn't see the point in discussing it until we were all together," Edmund told him. "The only one I told was Peter."

"Told Peter what?" Scrubb demanded.

"Crowley is attempting to bring back the Queen of Underland, the way the Nazis brought back the White Witch," Caspian said gravely.

Shift blinked at them, confused. "You truly think Crowley can do that?" He'd listened to Crowley prattle on about that enough, but he'd never actually thought that it was possible.

"Witches never really die. There's always away to get them back," said the other female who Shift deduced was Susan. She sounded disgusted.

Shift frowned as he considered the implications of this. In the Old Stories the Serpent Queen was powerful and dangerous. She could enchant people into mindlessly doing her bidding and transform into a giant snake. Her teeth contained a deadly venom that guaranteed a slow and agonizing death. All in all, she wasn't someone Shift wanted around. With all the other Morlocks who'd been stronger than him dead, Shift was at the head of the line for leadership once Crowley was gone. He did not want someone with as much power as the Serpent Queen around to get in his way.

"I say! Bloody hell!" Scrubb growled. "It's quite depressing when someone is intent on undoing all your hard work!"

"Killing that woman once was more than enough," Pole said angrily. "Why can't witches just stay dead?"

"So you see why we're staying, now?" Peter asked. "We need to stop Crowley before he can resurrect this Serpent Queen."

"By stopping him," Lucy said hesitantly, "you mean . . . ?"

"By any means necessary," Caspian said in a voice that Shift would have sworn was colder than the white water powder that covered much of Eng Land.

"I help," Shift said eagerly, deciding he didn't want that frigid glare directed at him.

"Good," said Edmund, with a scary look of his own. "You can start by speaking properly – your stints of speaking in your broken Morlock dialect don't fool any of us. You may have gotten Crowley to underestimate you like that but it won't work with us."

Shift grimaced, annoyed that he'd been caught. "All right," he said. "I don't want the Serpent Queen around anymore than you do. I'll do what I can to help."

End of Chapter 19

Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter including: garnetred, diva divine, boarcher

merlyn2 – I know that song – that's another classic I have great appreciation for. Someone played both those songs at my grandparents' golden anniversary. I didn't know too much about them at the time, but I've done a lot of research since then. Now I always associate them with those memories. :)

mae-E – Any romantic plot involving Jill is going to have to wait for another story. I have been toying with the idea of that story though. Thanks, as usual, for all your insights on the chapter.

HeadbangGirl – I checked out the song you recommended. It's not like what I usually listen to, but I liked it. Good lyrics.

I will make every attempt to get the next chapter up on Monday (Oct 5) but right now I'm kind of struggling to get everything I need to done. I've been making some progress with my professional writing, which has brought me more work but makes me very happy. After I post this chapter I will be editing an original story that will hopefully be uploaded to my website this evening, so if anyone feels like reading something new you can check it out ~


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Coming up with a plan of action took some time – though more time was actually spent arguing than planning. How much the Friends of Narnia needed to interfere with the world's inhabitants was a point of debate that had their group pretty much evenly split.

Eustace and Peter were adamant that the Eloi's problems with the Morlocks were not their own. They had come to this world to rescue Caspian, not start a revolution. Jill and Lucy wanted to help the Eloi by forcing the Morlocks to agree to some sort of peace treaty. Susan wanted Crowley's head on a plate for what he did to Caspian and thought that the Morlocks needed to be taught a lesson as well. Caspian had no problem cutting down any Morlock who got in his way as he made good on his agreement with Shift, but he didn't see the need to go out of his way to kill any Morlocks in the process. Edmund was having a hard time figuring out how he felt about the situation.

On the one hand, the just king in him wanted to help the Eloi. They weren't the brightest creatures ever to walk the worlds, but they were kind. If they'd lived in Narnia they would have been under his protection – as was every other wise beast and sentient being. He would have hunted the Morlocks into the depths of the earth for murdering the Eloi if they were in Narnia.

But they weren't in Narnia. They had no armies to call on, no back up. Between the seven of them they had only four swords, two bows, a handgun, and a couple of knives. Even if the Eloi were open to the idea of arming themselves, the only weapons they could really give them would be sticks. Somehow Edmund doubted that would go over well.

"It's not as though we can do any good anyway." Eustace and Jill were arguing again. "This is one settlement. It's not the only settlement. At least I seriously doubt it is the only settlement since species have a hard time existing when there's only a couple dozen of them in the world. We can kill all the Morlocks in this underground colony and save all these Eloi, but what about the rest of the world? In the end saving these Eloi wouldn't matter a bit."

"It would matter to them," Jill shot back.

"But they don't really matter," Eustace said bluntly.

Edmund blinked. "That's cold," he told his cousin.

"Cold, but true," Eustace snapped. "Why should we risk our lives to save them? If they're not willing to fight for their own lives then how can we help them, even if we want to? If they're perfectly fine and happy running around like walking meat for the Morlocks why should we interfere?"

"Because they're living creatures!" Jill said in a shrill voice.

"So are cows and you're not campaigning for them!"

"It's not the same! Cows don't think like humans!"

"Neither do Eloi!"

"They think close enough to how humans think. They're sentient. They're reasonably intelligent and they have feelings! After they've taken us in, fed us, given us shelter and a safe place to sleep at night, how can you say they don't matter?!" Jill demanded. "What kind of beast are you?!"

"I'm just being practical," Eustace returned. "Say we wipe out these Morlocks. Every last one of them, down to Shift who, I should remind you, we're indebted to for helping Caspian and Edmund escape." The Morlock in question was currently on the other side of the village, once again locked in his hut, while Caspian and Susan guarded the door, so he was spared having to hear about his hypothetical death. "All the Morlocks are gone. This village of Eloi gets to keep on living. We leave, as you know we're going to have to. One of two things is going to happen. The most likely is that another group of Morlocks is going to move in. Dispersal of species and all – you might remember learning about that in Experiment House –"

"Don't lecture me on biology, Scrubb," Jill growled.

"The new Morlocks will just pick up right where the old ones left off. What it will ultimately amount to is that we'll have accomplished a big fat lot of nothing. The other thing that might happen, but that I think is slightly less likely, is that these Eloi will continue living in a predator free environment. The absence of predators will increase their lifespan. For the first time ever they'll live to reach middle age, and in the process they'll probably have a lot more offspring. With nothing thinning out their numbers their population is going to grow too large for this area to support. They'll start messing up their ecosystem and you know they're not smart enough to realize what they're doing or to figure out how to fix it. At best they'll start starving to death and their population will be reduced back to a reasonable number. At worst they'll permanently damage their habitat and end up all starving to death."

Eustace painted a grim picture – made even grimmer by the fact that he was probably right. Edmund was surprised at how accurate an assessment Eustace had made, and could see by Peter's expression that his brother was no less surprised. Of course he saw the futility of the situation as well.

"This isn't our fight," Peter said finally. "There's not much that we can do for them."

"It still feels like we should be able to do something," Lucy said. There was a pained look on her face. She wanted to do something for the Eloi but didn't know what there was that could be done.

"I'm sorry," Peter told her and Jill. "I really am. But nothing we do to try to help them is going to work in the long run and we can't afford to waste time trying. If a couple days here is a week in our world then the longer we stay here, the more problems we're going to have when we do get back."

Jill stood up, looking furious. "It's not fair!"

"I know it's not but –"

"You're supposed to be a King of Narnia! You're supposed to do what's right!" Jill screamed. "Aslan chose you! He chose us all! It doesn't matter where we go or if we're in Narnia or not! You're still the High King! We're all Aslan's weapons. We can't just decide to take the easy path and blame it on circumstances! It's not right!"

"Jill –" Lucy said, reaching out to try to catch her hand.

"Look here, Pole," Eustace started, but Jill stepped out of Lucy's reached and cut off whatever Eustace was going to say to her.

"It's not right!" she shouted again and turned her back to them and stormed away.

The silence left in her wake was somehow very, very loud.

"She's right, you know," Lucy said after a moment. She spoke in her usual soft tone, but somehow her voice rang out much clearer after breaking that deafening silence.

"She is," Edmund agreed, wishing that he'd spoken sooner – wishing that he'd picked a side before Jill reminded him that there was only one choice for a champion of Narnia. "In Narnia none of us would have even considered letting something like this stand. All creatures, from humans and centaurs and satyrs to nymphs and trees, down to the wise animals, are under our protection and we'd have done right by any of them, no matter how much time it took. It shouldn't be any different here. _We_ shouldn't be any different here. Or else we're not fit to call ourselves Kings and Queens or Champions of Narnia."

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Peter asked hotly. His tone made it clear that he was stung by Jill's remarks – and they wouldn't have stung if he hadn't known they were true.

"I have an idea," Edmund said, and stood.

"Care to share?" Peter asked.

"Not yet."

"I say! You're just going to leave us in the dark?" Eustace demanded.

"I thought I'd tell Jill first," Edmund said, "beings that she's the one who needs to hear it the most right now."

Lucy gave him a knowing smile as he started toward the walkway that Jill had fled down. "Good luck."

End of Chapter 20

AN: Yay! Managed to get caught up with my work over the weekend and got this written and typed up too ~ Thank you everyone who reviewed and increased my motivation to get a chapter up this Monday including:

diva divine and garnetred – you guys are awesome!

mae-E, rthstewart and merlyn2 – Trying to write from a Morlock's perspective was difficult but interesting. I'm glad you guys think I pulled it off.

Miniver – Thanks for the compliments. I try, lol. I love reading stories that are written as prequels to something I've already read, and seeing how the pieces fall in place and thinking, "Oh, so that's how that happened . . ." So now I'm trying it out for myself, lol.

HeadbangGirl and boarcher – if you want to read the stories on my website you can get to it by going to my profile and clicking on the homepage link. I think it might be a violation of ff rules if I put my site address in the story, so try that first. If that doesn't work let me know and I'll send you a message with the site's address. Thanks for your interest and I hope you enjoy reading them!

Next chapter will be up on Friday – Edmund's David vs. Goliath-esque plan will be revealed – cheers to anyone who gets the double meaning of that description.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Edmund stopped by the hut that his family and his friends shared, and grabbed one of the extra blankets before following Jill down to the ground below the village. He found her crying at the edge of the jungle, her face buried in her hands.

"Jill?" he said hesitantly as he stepped closer to her.

"Go away," Jill murmured, not looking at him.

Edmund ignored the order and moved closer.

"I said go away!" Jill snapped.

Edmund sat down beside her. "You know, when Eustace started talking about how the Eloi and Morlocks behave quite a bit like animals, it got me thinking."

"They're not animals," Jill growled. She gave him a glare that definitely would have made Eustace flinch. Edmund just gave her a slight smile and unsheathed his knife. He started cutting thin strips off the blanket.

"It depends on your definition of animal," he told her.

"If you start quoting the dictionary at me like Scrubb, I swear, I'll –"

"In Narnia," Edmund said quickly to head off her stinging diatribe, "you know that there are animals that can talk and reason, just the same as other sentient races like humans and dwarves. We used to refer to them as Animals with a capital A, or as wise beasts. Some of our dearest friends were wise beasts, like the beavers we met our first time in Narnia, and Reepicheep, one of the heroes who helped put Caspian on the throne."

"So what?" Jill asked. She sniffed and turned her face away from Edmund.

"So I was thinking . . ." Edmund paused for a moment as he finished cutting six thin strips off the blanket. He tied three of them off at one end and began braiding them. "The wise beasts in Narnia were rarely killed during hunts – whether the hunters were humans or other animals that could or couldn't talk."

"Why?" Jill wanted to know, her interest finally sparked.

"It took me awhile to figure that out," Edmund told her. "I mean, it was obvious why the sentient races didn't hunt down the wise beasts – they could talk and it's just wrong to eat something that you can have a real conversation with. No one in Narnia would eat a wise beast anymore than they'd eat a human – though if they'll eat a human all bets are off for all other creatures too," he added, remembering how the giants in the north had a taste for human flesh.

"That makes sense," Jill said. "And the normal animals? Did they not eat the wise beasts for the same reason? They had some sort of ingrained respect for them?"

"Not at all," Edmund told her. "The truly wild animals of Narnia behaved just like normal animals. A normal wolf would have no qualms about hunting a wise rabbit. A hungry bear might attack a human."

"But you said that the wise beasts didn't get hunted down . . ."

"I said that the wise beasts were rarely killed during hunts," Edmund reminded her. "Wild animals rarely succeeded in getting their quarry if their quarry was a wise beast."

"Okay . . ." Jill said uncertainly, but now she looked genuinely interested. "Why?"

"Because the wise beasts had a number of advantages over normal animals of their species. For one thing, they're smarter. Also, they tend to grow quite a bit bigger. A few extra inches and a couple extra pounds of muscle never hurt in a fight." Edmund finished braiding his ropes and cut another piece off the blanket – this one shaped like a small square. "But the main reason why they had such a high survival rate is because they _did_ fight. Every single time."

"Wild animals fight for their lives too," Jill said, "and I'm pretty sure they fight every single time. It's instinctual to try to stay alive."

"Yes, but when you're capable of sentient reasoning you can overcome base instincts. Instead of trying to just run madly away or trying in vain to bite the fox, the Rabbits would try to kick it in the snout – or the eyes. Deer, instead of just running away would try to batter the wolves down with their hooves. They weren't trying to kill them," Edmund assured her. "They were just trying to convince the predators that killing them wasn't worth the trouble. If easier, less painful prey was available, more often than not the normal animals would give up on killing the wise beasts."

Jill looked at Edmund, her eyes starting to gleam with hope. "You mean . . . ?"

"Trying to teach the Eloi to kill Morlocks would be a lost cause. They're not killers. It would be wrong to try to make them so . . . but it would also be wrong to stand back and do nothing."

His creation complete, Edmund got to his feet. He held his free hand out to Jill to help her up. She took it and allowed him to pull her off the ground.

"So . . . what are we going to do?" Jill asked. She watched as Edmund stooped to pick up a stone.

Edmund gave her a crooked smile and set the stone in the pocket formed by the square piece of fabric he'd tied between the ropes he'd braided. Then he started spinning the sling around and around, very quickly and took aim at a piece of fruit that hung in a nearby tree. He released one of the ropes just as he directed his arm straight at the fruit. The rock flew from the sling and went exactly where he wanted it to go. It hit the fruit and knocked it loose from the tree. Edmund caught it before it hit the ground and grinned. There was a nice, rock sized dent in its thick rind, that would make peeling it open easier. "We're going to teach the Eloi how to be too much trouble."

X

Edmund was surprised by how well his plan went over. The Eloi, despite their childish appearance and nature, were actually quite good at learning, or at least at mimicking. Using the sling to propel rocks and knock fruit down from the trees became a game to them. Their aim was excellent – better than Jill's, though she was just a beginner at using the sling too, but almost as good as Edmund's. Granted it had been twenty-some Narnian years since the last time he'd used a sling, plus half a dozen earth years, so he thought it was understandable that he was a bit rusty.

They made more slings out of materials that the Eloi had handy – mainly a rough cloth woven out of fibers peeled off of fruit skins. They reminded Edmund of the threads that came off coconut shells. In less than an hour half the Eloi in the village had made their own slings and were flinging rocks at the targets Edmund carved on tree trunks, so they wouldn't knock down all the fruit before it even ripened.

"This is going well," Jill commented as they watched rock after rock crash against the targets.

"They're naturals," Edmund agreed. "But next comes the hard part."

Jill looked curious. "What's that?"

"Teaching them to apply what they've learned here to a Morlock attack." That was a subject that Edmund didn't even know how to breach. Somehow, "Hey guys, have you ever thought of flinging rocks at the Morlocks?" didn't seem like the greatest way to introduce them to the idea.

"I guess we can't bring Shift out here and tie him up in front of the targets," Jill muttered, startling a laugh out of Edmund.

"Yeah," he said, "I don't think the others will agree to that."

"It would be nice though . . ." Jill said reluctantly.

Edmund nodded. "It is a really good idea." He really regretted that Peter would never allow that.

"What if you tell them a story?" Jill suggested.

"Tell them a story?"

"You know? David versus Goliath. You're good at telling stories. You and Caspian have sold so many books."

"That might work," Edmund said, surprised that he hadn't thought of it himself. The biblical story of David's defeat of the giant Goliath was probably the most famous example of a sling being used in all of history, and David's situation kind of mirrored the Eloi's – much bigger enemies, overwhelming odds, a hopeless situation, and, of course, the solution with the least amount of bloodshed. "You think this is how David felt? Knowing how many lives depended on his sling skills?"

Jill smiled. "Remember the story? He never flinched. And he never ran away, even though many full grown men did. He had complete faith in both his skills and in the one who gave him those skills. So, yeah . . . I think this is how David felt."

End of Chapter 21

Many thanks to everyone who reviewed, including:

Miniver – once again, you figured it out. Good job!

Puella Deorum – I'm glad you liked my last story, and I hope you continue to like this one too!

selenemaree – I'm planning a separate story that will be about Jill, Eustace, and Edmund. Who she ends up with will probably be determined by who most reviewers want her to end up with.

HeadbangGirl, merlyn2, diva divine, and boarcher – writing the arguments for both sides of their Eloi/Morlock/ecosystem debate was challenging, but fun. I tried to take real ecological logistics into consideration and bring them into the debate while putting the characters on the side I thought they'd be most likely to take. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

mae-E, maristelle, and garnetred – I hope you guys like Edmund's solution. I thought a long, long time before I was able to come up with something I actually thought would work for the characters. I think a lot of us would have been all for wiping the Morlocks out (since kidnapping Caspian was an unpardonable sin) but the Friends of Narnia don't seem like the type to appreciate a vengeful massacre . . .

Next chapter will be up on Monday. See you then!


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"And then David put the rock in his sling and wound it up . . . and then he let it fly!"

Peter watched in unfeigned amusement as Edmund acted out the feat. A rock flew from his improvised sling, halfway across the clearing, to strike some sort of melon that had been balanced on a stump. The melon seemed to explode from the force of the impact – several chunks of the rind splintered off and the pulpy insides of the fruit splattered in every direction like gore. A chorus of babbles and cheers went up from the Eloi who were engrossed in Edmund's story.

"And the rock struck Goliath right in the head, just like that, and Goliath fell to the ground, dead," Edmund said dramatically. "Then . . . uh . . . the rest of the Israelites loaded their slings and . . . they loosed their rocks at the Philistines. And then the Philistines ran away and the Israelites were safe. Sometimes the Philistines tried to come back and attack the Israelites again. Sometimes they did manage to hurt the Israelites, but because the Israelites had rocks and slings, and because they used them to fight back against the Philistines instead of . . . well, instead of not fighting, the Philistines attacked less and less, realizing that trying to eat the Israelites was too much trouble . . . And so most of the Israelites were able to live long lives and their world became a much safer place. The end."

Peter didn't know whether to laugh or shake his head as the Eloi burst into a round of cheers. That was far from Edmund's best performance – he'd seen his brother do readings from his books that went flawlessly. Making things up as he went along, or altering the story as it were, did not go as smoothly, but the Eloi's reaction was on the same level of adoration as Edmund's and Caspian's fanatical female readers'.

When Edmund looked up, Peter caught his eye and inclined his head slightly. Edmund made his way over to his brother, and was joined by Jill midway there.

"What is it?" Edmund asked, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Did you just lie about the bible to them?" Peter asked incredulously.

Edmund blushed bright red and opened his mouth, but it was Jill who answered.

"No, he just gave them the King Edmund translation," she said pertly.

Peter blinked several times. Edmund gave a strangled sounding laugh.

"Okay . . ." Peter said at last. "That's . . . well that's not at the top of our list of problems, so . . . just don't make a habit of that, Edmund."

"I won't," Edmund promised. "These were unusual circumstances."

Peter sighed. "Well, while you were arming the Eloi I spoke with Caspian. We came up with some ideas. Care to discuss strategy?"

Edmund's eyes gleamed, the way they always did when he was called to a war council.

X

The older humans were discussing some sort of battle plan and had delegated the two junior members of their party to guarding Shift.

It was a good move on the one hand, he admitted. Keeping him in the dark about their plans for a raid on the Morlocks' tunnels was a logical cautionary measure. Granted, Shift had no plans of trying to escape and running back to spill everything he knew to Crowley. He wanted the arrogant human dead and didn't care how many Morlocks the youger humans had to slaughter to make him dead.

On the other hand, Scrubb and Pole were given to idle chatter. At worst their bickering was annoying, but they were infinitely more interesting than any of the other humans. Peter and Edmund always guarded alone and in stoic silence. Caspian, when he was alone, remained silent as well. When he was with Susan his tongue loosened but he never spoke of anything important. In fact, Shift found the two of them even more boring than if they'd been alone. They said little things of no consequence – how much they missed each other during the time they'd spent apart, how worried they'd been, how happy they were to be together again. It was sappy enough to make Shift sick – doubly so since other than talk the only thing they did while on guard duty was hold hands. Well, they had kissed once when their shift changed, but for the most part those two took guard duty too seriously and refused to be distracted. From a military standpoint it was commendable, but to Shift it just seemed prudish and boring.

That was why Shift was very pleased when Peter came to collect Caspian so that he could discuss strategy. Susan was left to guard on her own for a spell, then Scrubb came and told her that he and Pole would be taking over guard duty while everyone else finalized their plans. Susan stayed with Scrubb until Pole replaced her. Then Pole and Scrubb began doing what they seemed to like doing best – arguing.

Shift couldn't follow all of their conversations. Some traveler named Gulliver was mentioned and some man named Wells who apparently said a lot of things that were so ambiguous that Pole and Scrubb were both able to argue passionately about what they thought he meant. They threw around a number of words that Shift wasn't familiar with – "pacifism," and "ecosystem," to name a few. Then their debate moved on to what they referred to as the First World War, which Pole adamantly claimed laid the groundwork for the Second World War and thought that the "diplomats," who negotiated the peace did a right horrible job, while Scrubb insisted negligence and "Hitler" were to blame for World War II and that the only thing anyone could take away from World War I was that you shouldn't assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.

It took awhile, but finally their conversation moved on to a topic that Shift could follow. They started discussing the world of Narnia again, which Shift always found interesting – even more so when they mentioned a way of getting into Narnia from another world. From their words Shift was able to deduce that they were in possession of some sort of rings that took them to a forest full of pools, and that if they entered the right pool while wearing their green ring, would take them to Narnia.

Scrubb wanted to go back to Narnia before they went back to their home world and make sure that everything was all right there. Pole didn't think that was a good idea and insisted that if Aslan needed them to go back to Narnia he would find a way to either get them there or let them know, since he always had before.

Shift didn't know who this Aslan was, nor did he really care all that much. The thing that interested him most was the fact that their rings would allow them to get to Narnia – a world populated by creatures more intelligent than Morlocks or Eloi. A world that Shift wanted very much to visit.

End of Chapter 23

AN: Sorry for such a short chapter. I've been extremely busy this week. Next chapter will be up on Friday and will advance the main plot some more.

Thank you all for reading and double thanks to everyone who reviewed including: diva divine, boarcher, Miniver, garnetred, amber'eyed countess, and merlyn2

maristelle – I'm working on making their fight against the Morlocks a good one. I promised everyone who was concerned that Crowley would get what's coming to him, and the Morlocks will get theirs too!

S. Lily Potter – I'm glad you're enjoying the story. There will be more Susan and Caspian soon.

HeadbangGirl – I like writing and using pre-existing elements and structures that I can weave my own stories around – mythology in my original works, real events and such that coincide with the timelines in fanfiction, as well as little details that I can twist into my own plotlines – like Shift and, hopefully in a future story, the Arthurian references Lewis makes.

mae-E – the Eloi aren't going to suddenly become soldiers and won't be actively trying to hunt down any Morlocks. I kind of agree with Jill, in that they shouldn't have to become a violent race in order to survive, but I also agree with Eustace's assertion that if you don't even try to defend yourself or your friends and family then . . . well, then you suck. I'd never say it's all right for someone to hurt another person just because said person doesn't want to fight, but my personal philosophy is that you shouldn't make it easy for them. So my personal philosophy kind of made its way into the solution for the Eloi's problem with Morlock oppression.

Next chapter up on Friday! Thanks again for reading.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

In theory, the daylight hours should have been the best time to begin their attack on the Morlocks' caves. Surprise attacks, when the enemy was supposed to be asleep, were usually a good tactic and one which Caspian was quite familiar with. There were other factors, however, that had to be taken into account for their mission. Their objective, after all, wasn't to wipe out every last one of the filthy subterranean creatures. Their objective was to kill Crowley and destroy the machine he'd used to pierce the veil between the worlds. The Morlocks were only in the way, and even though the Pevensies and their friends didn't think they'd be too much of an obstacle, they were still a hindrance.

That's why Caspian suggested they attack at night. Yes, the Morlocks would be awake and alert after the sun went down, but there would be a lot less Morlocks in the caves. Once the alarm was sounded all the Morlocks in the caves would know they were there. Thus, the fewer Morlocks that were around, the better.

They left the Eloi village early the next afternoon. Shift told them that the trek to the Morlocks' tunnels only took about two hours, but they preferred to make it there with plenty of time to spare.

The Eloi seemed a little put out that they were leaving – or at least that Jill and Edmund were leaving. They weren't exactly sad – it was more like they were miffed that their new friends wouldn't be spending the rest of the day playing with them. Caspian wasn't sure if the Eloi knew that none of them planned on returning, or if they were even really capable of grasping that concept. He couldn't really afford to worry about it though. He had other concerns.

Chief among them was their friendly Morlock guide. Somehow Shift seemed less trustworthy than ever before. He was planning something. Caspian could tell from the look in his eyes that there was something going on in his corrupted Morlock mind, but he couldn't even begin to fathom what it was.

"Is something wrong?" Susan asked after Caspian looked back at Shift for the twelfth time in about twenty minutes.

"Yes," Caspian told her, "but I'm not sure what. Do not lower your guard around the Morlock."

They found the entrance to the Morlocks' caves easily – they were the apex predators of their world, after all, for all that they weren't that intelligent. They'd made no effort to hide their home, confident that no one dangerous could or would intrude.

Caspian, the Pevensies, Jill, and Eustace then climbed into the trees to wait, dragging Shift, who wasn't much of a climber, along with them.

"What do you think?" Edmund asked Caspian once they'd tied the Morlock to a branch below them, out of hearing distance, and gagged him. "He still grating at your nerves too?"

Caspian nodded. "I do not know why but I trust him less than ever now."

"And I trust our instincts," Edmund said with a frown.

"Do you think we should go in without him?" Peter asked, taking note of their apprehension.

Edmund and Caspian traded glances. "Those tunnels are like a maze," Edmund said hesitantly.

"Even if we got him to draw us a map – assuming he can draw one and that we could trust it – if we got turned around or missed the right tunnel that would be it," Caspian agreed. "We would be lost."

"Besides," Edmund said, sounding very reluctant, "If we left him tied up out here and then we had to use our rings inside the caves to escape, there would be no one to untie him and get him down. He'd starve to death. I wouldn't sentence anyone to that."

"I would feel a bit bad about killing him," Caspian confessed. "We did have an agreement . . . and even if it wasn't specified, it was implied that we'd both be alive at the end of it."

X

Things were not going according to Crowley's plans. Caspian escaping, Shi'ftla either defecting or deserting, the other Morlocks ranting about more humans in their world . . . That was ridiculous of course, and the dumb things had nearly started a riot. Crowley had had to kill five more of the stupid creatures to keep the rest of them under control.

He sighed and shoved his books and notes back from his makeshift table. His attempts at figuring out how to revive a witch were not going as well as he'd hoped they would. He'd been counting on Caspian as his main source of information. He was sure that if anyone could tell him how it was done, it would be Mr. Ian Casp. Now that the Narnian scholar prince had given him the slip, he was left without a primary source of information.

The next best thing was Caspian's last book – or second to last book, now that he'd just released a new one. _Prince Telmarine_ had a rather detailed scene midway through the book, in which the title character was almost inadvertently a party to reviving the White Witch, the main antagonist from Caspian's second book.

Over the past few days, Crowley had poured over that scene dozens of times, taking note of every detail. Unfortunately, the only definite thing that Crowley got from the book was that he needed human blood. The hag's chant had not been recorded in detail. The text didn't specify if the circle that was drawn required symbols to be drawn inside it as well, or if it was merely a circular line scratched in the dirt. He couldn't even tell for certain if an item that belonged to the witch was needed.

Crowley had been hoping that the Morlocks would prove themselves useful and would have managed to catch Caspian again by now. How hard could it be, after all? He was one man from a world of temperate forests, who'd somehow managed to cross into England for awhile. Nowhere in his books did it suggest he was familiar with anything like a jungle. The closest thing Crowley had been able to find was the desert near the neighboring country of Calormen, but there was quite a bit of difference between deserts and jungles. The humidity should have slowed him down quite a bit, and in such an unfamiliar environment, Crowley didn't think he'd have been able to cover his tracks.

But once again the Morlocks proved completely incompetent. They'd been unable to hunt down one measly human and one deserter. The more time passed, the more likely it seemed that he wouldn't be seeing Caspian again. Crowley still doubted the younger man's ability to get very far but there were too many ways a person unfamiliar with the jungle could get himself killed. There were other predators than the Morlocks and there was quicksand. He could have drowned himself trying to cross a river or could have been eaten by one of several varieties of flesh eating fish that inhabited the local waters. Or Shi'ftla could have hit him in the back of the head with a rock and left his skull filling up with blood. Either way, chances were too high that Caspian was dead, and every hour he remained out in the jungle his odds of surviving decreased.

So Crowley had to come up with a contingency plan. Unfortunately that wasn't so easy. There was only one other person Crowley knew of who he thought could possibly have any knowledge on how to resurrect a witch – the young man who co-wrote several of the Narnian Chronicles.

Crowley had gathered a fair amount of information about Edmund Pevensie – more than he had about Caspian in fact, since it seemed there were more records about the younger writer. Birth records, school transcripts, a plethora of wartime records including copies of his family's ration cards and, of course, the forms that his mother had filled out to send Edmund and his siblings out of London, to the countryside, so they would be safe from the Germans' bombing raids.

It hadn't taken Crowley long to put two and two together. Ian Casp had obviously been a refuge from another world, but Edmund Pevensie had been born and raised in Britain, but found his way into Narnia, along with his brother and sisters, much like the character Edwin in his books had. And while he struck Crowley as more of a warrior than a scholar, he still seemed like a better choice for information than his siblings.

It was close to sundown when Crowley made his decision – not that he knew it was almost dusk by looking outside, of course. He'd set his watch to match time in the Morlocks' world. It was more convenient that way since every time he returned to his native world a good deal more time had always passed and his watch was never accurate.

The Morlocks were starting to wake up from sleeping all the daylight away. Crowley addressed the first one he came across, knowing that since this wasn't Shi'ftla he was talking to his message would probably become garbled as it spread, but there was no help for it.

"I am returning to my world this evening," he told the Morlock. "I will return, but I cannot say when."

The Morlock stared at him dumbly but didn't ask any questions, so Crowley took that to mean that the brute had understood. Without wasting anymore words that he was sure would only confuse the stupid creature anyway, Crowley returned to his quarters where his machine was waiting.

_I suppose there's no help for it,_ he thought as he powered up the machine's engines. _I was running out of bullets anyway._

End of Chapter 23

AN: Next chapter will be up next Friday. Sorry, but there's no way I'll be able to get one up on Monday. I've been sick this week and work has gotten backed up. I barely managed to get this chapter finished on time.

Thank you everyone who reviewed and gave me motivation to get out of bed and type this up.

Narnia Fan and S. Lily Potter: Good job! You both guessed right.

Mae-E – You're right – Shift's new goal is to try to steal a pair of rings. Some people have figured out what happens after that – mostly people who are familiar with The Last Battle, I think.

HeadbangGirl – I'm glad you're still enjoying my stories :) Things are going to get more depressing where Shift is concerned, but the main characters will get a happy ending at least.

merlyn2, diva divine, and amber eyed countess – I was hoping people would think the King Edmund translation line was funny, even if Peter didn't, lol. I've been trying to make it obvious that Jill and Eustace aren't as mature as the rest of the characters, who've lived completely different lives, but at the same time make them able to match wits with the others every now and then.

maristelle and garnetred – I hope you both liked this chapter too. Next one will be up next Fri.

Miniver – they might get to become a couple in my next story. I think it will depend on who most people want to see her end up with.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"How many Morlocks did Shift say lived in this cave, again?" Eustace asked.

"About fifty," Jill reminded him.

"That's unusual."

"Eustace," Edmund said, making an effort not to raise his voice. "Shut up."

"What? It is unusual," Eustace insisted. "In our world predators are normally solitary creatures – like bears, falcons, tigers . . . Then there's a few that live in packs like wolves and lions, although lions live in prides, not packs."

"Every time you speak you give away our position," Caspian said in a low voice.

"Oh. Sorry. I was just trying to say that finding fifty predators living together is highly –"

"Eustace," Peter said warningly.

"I know, I know. Shut up."

Edmund kind of doubted that he knew, but Eustace finally stopped saying words, so he let it go.

The sun had just gone down and the adventurers were watching for the Morlocks to exit the caves, from their perches in the trees. A handful had meandered out but it was still early in the evening.

"But you know –" Eustace started again.

"Shut up," Edmund snapped. "Unless you want to end up gagged like Shift."

Edmund wasn't sure if it was the threat that got Eustace to be quiet or because he saw that there were more Morlocks exiting the tunnels, but he fell silent again and stayed silent for the next hour.

After a total of thirty-eight Morlocks had trickled out of the cave, Edmund looked to Peter and Caspian, who both nodded grimly. "Time to go," Peter said softly.

They made it back to the ground without any mishaps, although shoving Eustace or Shift out of the tree was a tempting idea.

"Weapons check," Peter said, once they were all down. "Make sure you've got your rings too."

"Yeah, Pole."

"Shut up, Scrubb."

Edmund ignored them and double checked his blades and rings. Then he made sure that his bag of caltrops was in easy reach.

"Remember," Peter told them, "Crowley and his machine are our main objectives, but if we have to choose between the two, we kill Crowley."

That had been a point of contention. Lucy thought it would be better to leave Crowley stranded in this world, but to leave him alive. Caspian was adamant that Crowley must die. Killing Crowley would probably be easier than bludgeoning the so called time machine to pieces, so Edmund sided with Caspian, as did Peter. Edmund admired Lucy's love of life, but he gave practicality higher priority when it came to tactics.

Lucy frowned but gave a slight nod. She might have argued more if she thought she'd be the one in the position of killing Crowley, but more likely than not, she wouldn't be. Firing the PPK in the stone walled caves was a bad idea and they all knew it. Lucy was still carrying the gun in case of an emergency, but more likely than not she wouldn't be shooting it.

"Let's go," Peter said once he was satisfied everyone was ready.

Shift stumbled into Eustace as they started to move.

"Watch where you're going," Eustace growled, pushing him back.

Edmund caught the Morlock's shoulder before he could fall but gave him a stern look. He knew that most likely Shift had walked into Eustace by accident – his limbs had to be stiff from being tied up so long, after all – but he didn't want the ape-faced creature getting any ideas. "No false moves," he warned him.

Shift shot him a look that Edmund couldn't read, but that left an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was almost like he was trying to pretend he was nervous when inside he was gloating.

"And if you lead us into a trap, I swear that I will put my sword through your liver and you'll spend the next thirty minutes dying in horrible agony like none you can imagine."

"Edmund," Lucy admonished, but Edmund didn't back down. He shoved Shift to get him moving.

They had another slight setback when they ran into two more Morlocks exiting the tunnels just as they entered. Caspian and Susan took them down with a well placed arrow and a sword thrust straight to the heart. Then they drug the bodies out of the caves and tied them in the trees where they'd been hiding, since covering them up would take too long. Edmund kept a sharp eye on Shift throughout the delay but the Morlock didn't do anything suspicious.

Then, finally, they began their descent.

X

Caspian noted, with approval, that Edmund left a nice patch of caltrops at the tunnel's entrance. Any returning Morlock would end up with sharp pieces of metal stabbed through their feet, rendering them lame.

"Stay on the right as we leave," Edmund warned the others. "If we leave this way."

"Which way do we go?" Caspian asked their Morlock prisoner as they reached the first fork.

"Left," Shift told them. "If you would like I can lead –"

"No," Caspian, Edmund, and Peter said at once.

"You know, they only speak in unison about something they don't like," Eustace told Shift, "and usually it's just two of them. Since it's all three they must really not like you."

Caspian smiled grimly then tensed as he saw shadows moving in the darkness ahead of the light provided by the two flashlights that they had amongst them.

"What that light?" a gravelly voice asked.

"Maybe fire?" said another voice that sounded particularly dim witted.

"But this not kitchen."

"Maybe . . . rocks on fire?"

The twang of two bowstrings being released reached Caspian's ears only moments before the sound of one body hitting the floor. Then Jill whimpered, right before a hideous, pained howling split the air.

"Damn it," Peter muttered.

Caspian lunged forward and finished the injured Morlock off, but the damage was done.

"I'm sorry," Jill said, sounding sick. "I missed a vital area. I'm sorry –"

"What's done is done," Edmund said. Caspian didn't turn around but he could tell from the metallic clinging that Edmund was scattering more caltrops behind them. "Besides, they would have realized we were here eventually."

It was unfortunate that the game had been given away so quickly though. Caspian would have preferred to get a bit deeper before being discovered, but Edmund was right – what was done couldn't be undone and there was no sense dwelling on it.

"Let's pick up the pace, shall we?" Peter suggested.

"Let's," Caspian agreed, moving forward again.

They pressed on, even as they heard the sounds of other Morlocks shouting in their broken dialect, wondering what was going on. Then they heard pained yelps from behind them and knew that Edmund's caltrops had done their job well.

Peter cut down the next Morlock to cross their path and Susan shot another before he was within the reach of Caspian's and Peter's swords. Shift directed them which way to go every time the tunnels branched, and Edmund dropped more caltrops to slow down any pursuit from the other tunnels.

"How much further do we have to go?" Caspian asked after the fifth junction.

"Not much far," Shift assured him. "We almost there – ow!"

"Don't start talking like an idiot again just because you're back amongst your fellows," Edmund growled.

The light from the flashlight that Lucy held for them finally illuminated a door at the end of the corridor – an actual wooden door, complete with hinges and a knob. A frame had been built out of boards that were held in place by rocks and mortar.

"Through there," Shift told them. "That's where Crowley sleeps and keeps his machine."

Caspian pulled ahead of Peter and reached the door first. Wood groaned and splintered as he kicked it in then charged through. He stayed in motion, darting to one side, in case Crowley was stupid enough to discharge a weapon in a room made of rock.

He needn't have bothered. The room was completely empty – no Crowley, no machine.

"You lying, ape-faced, cretin," Caspian snarled, spinning back toward Shift, only to find that Shift wasn't there either. "What – where is he?!"

Edmund had turned to scatter more caltrops. He spun back around and his eyes went wide. "What the –"

"The rings!" Lucy realized. "Who's missing their rings?"

Caspian's hand immediately went to his pocket where the pair that the others brought for him was still wrapped in one of Susan's handkerchiefs. Then he glanced at the others, his eyes skimming over their faces until he found the one who wore an expression that was half horror, half rage.

"They're gone," Eustace said, frantically turning his pockets inside out. "My rings – they're gone.

End of Chapter 24

AN: Sorry I'm a little late in posting this chapter. Next one will be up Monday, though.

Thank you everyone who reviewed, including: amber'eyed'countess, garnetred, diva divine, maristelle, and boarcher

Mae-E – Crowley's got a revolver. I don't think I mentioned that earlier because I didn't want to sound like I was rattling off gun stats, which could have been confusing and or boring to a lot of people, but you're right about most of those holding 6 rounds. If Crowley was smart, like the Pevensies and James Bond, he'd have a PPK too – those hold more rounds and can be reloaded a whole lot faster. But Crowley is definitely no James Bond . . .

merlyn2 and Miniver – I thought it would be a little boring if they managed to just walk in and pwn Crowley too easily. Now Crowley thinks he's hunting an unsuspecting Edmund when really it's the other way around.

HeadbangGirl – don't worry about Crowley getting away, I've already promised he gets what he deserves


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

For a long moment Peter was frozen in shock. They all were. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw Edmund starting to unwrap his rings.

"I'm on it," Edmund said grimly.

Peter nodded then let his gaze travel over the rest of their party and made a quick decision. "Susan, go with him."  
Susan's eyes flared as she snapped out of her stupor. "No way," she said immediately, reaching for Caspian. She latched onto his arm as though he'd be ripped away from her if she let go. Caspian reacted protectively as well and shifted so he stood between Susan and Peter. "I will go with Edmund," he said immediately.

"What? No," Susan snapped. "You and I stay together."

Peter resisted the urge to grit his teeth. Caspian was a great warrior he knew, as was Susan in her own way, but when the two of them were together their efficiency was greatly reduced since they both went out of their way to keep the other safe. Usually it wasn't an issue because they hadn't been in any life or death situations since their last run in with the White Witch (unless you counted their Aunt Alberta's Christmas parties), but now he needed them both to be the monarchs he knew they could be.

"Caspian's needed here," Edmund said quickly, but calmly. He motioned toward the side of the room where there were a few sparse pieces of furniture – a desk, a cabinet, and a chest. "If there's anything in Crowley's papers about the Queen of Underland or any real magic, Caspian, Jill, and Eustace are the ones who'll recognize it. Peter's sword is needed here. You and I are the fastest runners, you've got a ranged weapon, and Shift's getting more and more of a head start!"

"Lucy –" Susan started to suggest.

"Doesn't have it in her to shoot someone in the back, even if it's necessary," Edmund growled. "Now come on!" He tossed his flashlight to Caspian, touched his gold ring, and disappeared.

"He is right," Caspian said, sounding as though he'd rather bite off his own tongue.

Susan clenched her jaw and shook her head then cast her gaze away. Caspian put a hand under her chin and turned her face toward him.

"I will be fine," he promised her. "Go help your brother."

"All right," Susan said softly.

Then Caspian kissed her.

Peter blinked then quickly turned away to give them at least the semblance of privacy – and to hide the smirk that was pulling at the corner of his mouth. Despite the gravity of the situation he found it a bit amusing. Caspian was usually very reserved in his behavior toward Susan when the other Pevensies were present. It was usually Susan who initiated any sort of contact that transcended holding hands.

"Tell Edmund to meet us back at our house when you're finished," Peter said to Susan when he decided that their parting kiss had lasted long enough. "Don't come back to this world. As soon as we're finished here we'll meet you back at our house."

"But the time difference," Lucy said quickly.

"We won't be here long," Peter told his sisters. "Ten minutes tops. That can't be more than a few hours at home. Go help Edmund, Susan."

He turned just in time to see Susan and Caspian separate, deliberately putting distance between themselves so that Caspian wouldn't be dragged along to the Woods by Susan's rings.

"If I don't see you again –" Susan started but Caspian cut her off.

"Don't even say that. We _will_ meet again," he vowed.

Susan gave a shaky smile and touched her gold ring.

X

Shift forgot to take a deep breath before using the rings he'd filched from Scrubb, and as a result he inhaled a lung full of water when he appeared in the Woods Between the Worlds. He spluttered and splashed and clawed his way to the side of the pool and onto the grassy bank, then sighed.

Once he got his bearings together, he looked around for the first time. These woods were a far cry from the jungle he was used to. The canopy overhead was thick and lush, but made of dark leaves and blotted out more light than the jungle's. There was mist, but it was cool, where as on his home world it hung in the air like heat haze. Shift couldn't tell if it was day or night – but according to Pole and Scrubb's conversation they didn't know what time of day it had been in the woods when they were there either.

All in all, it was a very peaceful place – the sort of place one could easily lull off to sleep in. Shift found his eyes growing heavier and heavier once he'd pulled himself out of the water. He hadn't realized how tired he was. It made sense though, since his sleeping schedule had been turned upside down since he'd been taken prisoner.

_I'll just rest for a second, _he told himself, closing his eyes. _Just a few moments, then I'll be on my way again. There's no reason I can't relax for just a –_

Suddenly there was a splash in the pool as someone else broke the water's surface. Shift's eyes flew open and he turned to see Edmund swimming toward the bank of the pool with swift, powerful strokes.

_Oh. There is that,_ Shift thought as he scrambled to his feet and started running.

There was a red string tied off at the pool he'd emerged from, which Shift guessed would lead to the pool that was the gate to the humans' home world. How they'd managed to find the pool that led to the world where Caspian had been kidnapped to, Shift had no idea. He passed more than twenty pools before finally reaching the other end of the cord, where it was wound in a ring around what had to be the Earth pool.

Behind him he heard fast, violent footfalls. Edmund was in pursuit, and if the expression on his face when he surfaced from the pool was anything to go by, he was mad. Shift risked a glance over his shoulder then hurried around to the other side of the pool, trying to put more distance between himself and the irate human.

"Don't you turn your back to me, coward!" Edmund growled.

Shift felt a moment of panic as he realized that there was no way to tell which of these pools led to the Narnia world. He'd deduced that it would be one of the closest ones to the Earth pool, but now he wasn't so sure. The pool to his own world was so far away. Had the humans used trial and error until they found the right world?

Shift didn't know and he didn't have time to figure it out. A twang sounded over Edmund's footsteps and Shift's panting. An arrow sailed right by Shift's head and hit a tree. He veered off to the side and leapt into the nearest pool.

"Get out of my shot, Edmund!" Susan shouted even as Shift fumbled for his rings.

He noticed, with alarm, that the knot that held the yellow ring in place was loose. Even as he slid the green one over his stubby finger the gold one slipped off of the cord. Shift uttered a guttural curse which turned into a howl of pain as an arrow grazed his arm. He dove after his gold ring, hoping that the water would distort Susan's aim with her projectile weapon. A glimmer of the yellow metal let him know that his ring was sinking fast. He reached for it, stretching his arm as far as he could, trying to grab it. For a moment he thought that he would get it.

Then the green ring he wore worked its magic and Shift disappeared.

X

Edmund skidded to a stop at the side of the pool and swore creatively enough to get a month's worth of dish duty if his mother had heard him. Susan quickly closed the distance to stand at his side.

"Drat," she whispered then looked at her brother. "Should we go after him?"

Edmund wanted to. He wanted to make that treacherous Morlock pay. But charging off into an unknown world just for revenge wasn't a good idea. Regretfully he shook his head. "We can't. We don't know what we'd be walking into. It could be a hostile world . . . or it could be Narnia."

Susan's expression darkened. "I hope not. I don't like the idea of letting that filthy creature loose in Narnia."

"Narnia would be too good for him," Edmund said with a sigh. "But whatever world he's in, that was a one way trip."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked.

Edmund pointed toward the bottom of the pool where the gold ring Shift lost glittered with an unnatural light.

"Oh. Should we get it?" Susan asked.

Edmund shook his head. "It's fine where it is. We don't have a matching green ring for it now, so we might as well just leave it here where it's harmless."

"Peter said we're to regroup at our house," Susan told him. "In our world."

Edmund frowned. "But the time difference . . ."

"They plan to spend no more than ten minutes going through Crowley's things," Susan said. "It shouldn't be more than a few hours in our world. We could go wait for them by the other pool though."

Edmund shook his head again. "This place wasn't meant for humans," he reminded her. "Or most creatures. The less time we spend here the better."

"You're right," Susan sighed.

Edmund started to turn away but Susan grabbed onto his arm. He looked at her quizzically and was surprised to see that she looked almost sick with worry. "What's wrong?"

"You don't think . . . you don't think that Shift will do something awful in the world he's in now, do you?"

Edmund gave her a slight smile. "He's just one ugly, ape faced Morlock. How much harm could he possibly do?"

X

AN:Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up Friday, October 30th – the day before Halloween. We're getting close to the end now, but there's still room for a few more twists and a little more excitement – and of course, Crowley's demise.

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed, including: Diva divine, merlyn2, boarcher, amber'eyed'countess, Miniver, maristelle,

HeadbangGirl – Shift learned everything he knows about the rings by eavesdropping on Jill and Eustace. There are some holes in his knowledge, but he knows enough to be dangerous. Also, thanks for the language lesson. I know how to insult someone in 12 different languages now! Gotta learn the important stuff first, lol.

garnetred – Shift swiped Eustace's rings right after they got out of the tree in the last chapter, when he bumped into Eustace. Pick pockets use that trick – misguided direction.

mae-E – Eustace was definitely speaking from experience. He's had lots of practice annoying his two cousins. Not as much with Caspian, but definitely with his cousins.

Lily S. Potter – You're right about when Eustace lost his rings. And I picked him specifically because it was ironic, what with him giving Jill so much grief about losing hers, lol.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

It didn't take long for the adventurers who'd stayed in the tunnels to ransack Crowley's few belongings. Peter stayed near the door, waiting for the Morlocks to work up the nerve to attack.

They tried to break through twice. The first time Peter dispatched the two intruders on his own. The second time there were four and Caspian halted his search to help take care of the Morlocks.

They tore apart Crowley's papers, searching for references to magic or the Serpent Queen he seemed bent on reviving. There were copies of all of Caspian's and Edmund's books, which seemed to annoy Caspian, as well as dozens of pages of nearly illegible handwritten notes and other books full of strange symbols.

"I say," Eustace said after only two minutes of searching. "Most of this looks like a load of crock. I mean – fortune telling cards with Egyptian pictures on them? Did the ancient Egyptians even have cards?"

"Ignore the crock, Scrubb," Jill said irritably. "Look for things that might be dangerous."

"Like what?"

"Like this." Lucy lifted the journal she'd been thumbing through. "He's made notes about every line in the Narnian Chronicles that mentions or relates to magic."

"How likely is it that he can actually use that information though?" Eustace wanted to know.

There was a metallic clicking noise as Lucy lit one of the Zippo lighters Edmund had packed and held it under the pages of the book. She waited for the flames to grow and spread across the pages, then dropped the journal before it could burn her hand. "Not likely," she said mildly and turned back to the desk. "Not now, at least."

"Less talk, more searching," Peter called.

"Every minute we spend here could be as much as an hour in your world," Caspian reminded them as he upended the remainder of Crowley's trunk, scattering clothing and crystals, bones, and a variety of other curiosities across the floor.

"Something's bothering me though," Eustace continued, as though no one had hinted he wasn't doing his job. "That chimp-faced cretin who brought us here. What were his real motivations?"

"Does it matter?" Jill asked dryly. "He's probably dead by now."

"Well, it just seems odd. I mean, he helped Caspian and Edmund escape. He made a deal with them so that they'd kill Crowley. Then he leads us to Crowley's room, but not to Crowley himself?"

"Maybe he did plan to help us kill Crowley but it seems like his plan changed," said Lucy. "But Jill's right, it doesn't –"

"Do you suppose Shift actually expected us to find Crowley here?" Eustace asked. "I mean, he led us straight to his room. What if he intended to help us kill Crowley until he realized that Crowley wasn't here? Then he bailed because he realized we'd think he tricked us."

"You're just trying to make excuses for losing your rings," Jill told him.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Eustace, Jill, enough," Peter snapped.

"She started it!"

"Shut up, Scrubb!"

"If you cannot concentrate then go home!" Caspian said angrily. "Now!"

That shut them both up. Caspian almost never raised his voice.

"Sorry," Jill muttered.

"Sorry," Eustace echoed. "We'll be good."

They returned to their task of tearing through Crowley's belongings, dumping all of his papers into a pile to be burned, searching for any hint at all that he had a real plan for reviving the Serpent Queen.

Their hunt came to an end when they ran out of things to go through.

"Nothing," Caspian said, frowning at the mess they'd made.

"Could Crowley have left his important things somewhere else?" Peter asked.

Caspian gave a helpless shrug. "It isn't impossible . . ."

"And we still don't know where he keeps the time machine," Lucy said. "Not that it's really a time machine . . ."

"What if Crowley kept it in here?" Eustace asked. "What if that's why Shift brought us here? Crowley kept his personal things in here. It would make sense that he'd keep his machine close too."

Peter hesitated. "Eustace has a point," he said finally.

"But then where is it now?" Jill asked. "Why would he go back to our world?"

"Food?" Eustace suggested. "All there really is to eat here are fruits."

"And Eloi," Caspian reminded him. "I doubt Crowley would have any qualms about cannibalism."

"He's not an Eloi, so technically it's not –"

"Shut up," Caspian said irritably. "We need to destroy all this and go." He kicked the last of the debris onto the pile then stood back as Lucy lit it up.

"I say!" Eustace called out. "Come look what I've found!"

"We don't have time for your nonsense," Peter told him.

"I think I found something validate my theory that this is where Crowley kept his machine," Eustace said. "Come look!"

Caspian stalked over. "What?"

"These scratches in the stone floor," Eustace said, dropping to his knees and running one hand over a gouge. "They're too wide and even to have been made by anything from this world."

Caspian's eyes widened. "You're right . . ."

Jill came and looked over Eustace's shoulder. "They're like the marks Madam Pincer's bedposts left on the foyer floor when we moved it into the entry hall last year."

"Why would a teacher want her bed moved into your school's entry hall?" Lucy asked. "Even an Experiment House teacher?"

"Oh. Well she didn't," Eustace said.

"Especially not in the middle of the night . . . while she was in it . . ." Jill looked sheepish.

"You know what? We don't need to know," Peter said, watching even more confusion spread over Caspian's face and deciding to head off a long winded explanation from Eustace. "So you think that those marks were made by Crowley's machine?"

"It's only a theory," Jill said.

"But what else could have made them?" Eustace demanded. "Not that desk. Something bigger and heavier. And why would he bother bringing something like a metal table or a bed to this world anyway?"

Suddenly Lucy cocked her head to one side and she held up a hand, motioning for Eustace to be quiet.

Eustace didn't take the hint. "I'd wager my sword and my entire rubber duck collection that I'm right. The time machine made those marks –"

"Eustace, shut up!" Lucy said sharply. "Listen!"

"Listen to what?" Eustace demanded when Lucy didn't keep talking.

"Just listen! Everyone!"

They all fell silent. Caspian seemed to be the next to hear whatever it was that raised Lucy's hackles. He grabbed both Eustace and Jill by their forearms and pulled them back, away from the marks on the floor.

"What –" Peter started, but then he heard it too.

A humming noise, like the whirling of propellers filled the air.

"What is that?" Eustace demanded.

"It sounds like a machine," Jill said. "Do you think it's _the_ machine?"

"I don't know," Peter said. "But stay back."

X

Susan and Edmund appeared back in the kitchen of their house, exactly where they'd left. The air in the kitchen was frigid and water dripped onto the floor beneath them in pools. Within moments of their arrival both Pevensies were chilled to the bone.

"I guess Mum and Dad aren't here," Edmund said, wringing water out of his shirt.

"That's probably a good thing," said Susan as she swiped several dripping locks of hair out of her face. "We need to change."

"Yeah," Edmund agreed, dropping his pack onto the floor. "And start a fire too."

Susan hurried to her room and stripped out of her wet dress. She quickly replaced it with a dry one and fresh stockings, then put on her coat to ward off the rest of the chill. For a moment she wished that her parents had been home when they arrived – explanations would have been difficult, to their mother at least, but there would have been a fire burning in the hearth.

_It probably would have been more trouble than it was worth, _Susan reminded herself as she put on a pair of gloves. Outside she could see that there was quite a bit of snow on the ground. It was still winter then, unless they'd somehow managed to come back a year or more in the future. She opened her curtains wider to get a better look then smiled. Across the street the Perns family had red candles in their windows as they did every year around Christmas. The one in the far left window was off center, just as it had been before Susan and the others left. The eaves on old Mr. MacCormick's house were still bent and on the verge of falling down, but hadn't yet, and Mrs. Simmons, who prided herself on having a fancy new Christmas wreath on her door every year, even during the war, still had the same one up that Susan had seen last time she looked at that house. _We haven't been gone long, _Susan thought, feeling relieved_. A month at the most._

There was a knock on her door.

"Are you decent?" Edmund asked.

"Yes. Come in," Susan said, pulling the curtain closed again.

Edmund opened the door but stayed on the other side of the threshold. He was still dripping water and his cheeks were red and rosy.

"Why haven't you changed yet?" Susan demanded. "You're going to catch a cold."

"We've only been gone one day," Edmund told her, ignoring the admonishment. He held up a newspaper. "This paper is dated for the day after we left. There were no others out there."

"How is that even possible?" Susan wanted to know.

Edmund shrugged. "Aslan, maybe? Or maybe it's just the usual mess of time lines when you cross through the worlds. I don't know."

Susan didn't know either, but there would be time to puzzle over it later. "Go put on some dry clothes before you get sick," Susan ordered. "I'm going to start a fire in the hearth."

"Already did," Edmund said smugly.

"Just go change, already," Susan said with mock exasperation.

Edmund left, presumably to obey, and Susan went downstairs with an armful of blankets for when the others returned. She set them on the table in the kitchen then went into the living room where, true to his word, Edmund had started a nice roaring fire.

A knock at the door caught Susan's attention and she frowned. Now was not a good time for visitors. The rest of her family and their friends would be appearing in the kitchen, seemingly out of thin air any moment now. Briefly, she wondered if whoever was on the other side of the door would go away if she ignored them.

The knock sounded again, loud and incessant, and Susan decided that it would probably be best to see what whoever was there wanted and to send them away as fast as she could. She returned to the hall, hurried to the front door, and opened it.

Then her eyes widened in horror, as much at the sight of the gun as at the sight of the man who held it.

"You," she hissed.

Aleister Crowley gave Susan a mocking smile.

End of Chapter 26

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, including: amber'eyed'countess and garnetred

Ash12345 – Welcome back! I hope you had a good trip and I'm glad you're still enjoying the story.

Merlyn2 – I suspect you're right about the Pevensies preferring the White Witch or Miraz's army to Alberta's Christmas parties. I would too in their situation, lol.

mae-E – I'm working on answering all your questions. Only a few chapters left!

diva divine – School can take the fun out of even the best books. Sorry you were getting burned out, but I'm glad that you enjoyed my story so much. Relax this weekend and enjoy some Halloween candy!

HeadbangGirl – Halloween's my favorite holiday – I'm not planning any tricks for it though, never fear. I've got something pretty devious planned for Shift in the world he escaped into though – a lot of people who are familiar with all the books have already figured it out.

Miniver – You're right, it's really not fair that the White Witch never got too old to stay in Narnia, while the heroes kept getting banned . . . Well, at least the White Witch is too dead to stay in Narnia now. That's gotta count for something.

S Lily Potter – They stayed to go through Crowley's stuff because even though Shift ran off, Crowley's still a threat to them. Caspian really doesn't want the Serpent Queen/Queen of Underland revived, and Susan' still ticked at him for kidnapping Caspian.


	27. Chapter 27

Happy Halloween!

Here's a short extra chapter in celebration of my favorite holiday!

Chapter 27

Edmund had just stripped off his wet clothes and donned a dry pair of trousers when there was a knock on his bedroom door.

"Edmund?" Susan asked, a catch in her voice.

Edmund frowned. Something was wrong. "What, Su?" he asked, quickly pulling on a sweater and buckling his belt.

"Can – can I come in?" Susan asked.

Yes, something was definitely wrong.

"Just a moment," Edmund called. He scanned his room for a weapon, wishing he hadn't left his pack and his sword in the kitchen. The most dangerous thing he had on him now was a knife. He removed it from his boot and held it in his left hand so that it was mostly concealed, the blade angled backward to lay flat against his forearm. Then he opened the door. "What is it, Susan?"

Edmund wasn't sure what he'd expected, but the sight of Susan with a gun pressed against her temple was not it. He froze then turned his gaze toward the person holding Susan hostage.

A face he recognized only from pictures leered down at him.

"Hello, Edmund," said Crowley. "I'm afraid we have not yet had the pleasure of being introduced. My name is Aleister Crowley."

"I know who you are," Edmund said guardedly. He tried to gauge the distance between himself and Crowley, wondering if he could kill the man with his knife before the bastard shot Susan.

"So does your sister, though I did not think to inquire how when we first met."

"Are you all right, Susan?" Edmund asked.

Susan started to nod then stopped when Crowley pressed the gun against her temple harder. "I'm all right," she whispered.

"That was an opening for you to tell me how you know of me," Crowley prompted Edmund.

"Caspian left a letter for us," Susan said defiantly. "He told us that if he went missing or was found dead that you were the one who did it."

"It seems as though Caspian was brighter than I gave him credit for," Crowley said, looking amused. "But, be that as it may, I require that you come with me."

"What do you want with us?" Edmund asked, playing for time.

"For now, just your cooperation," Crowley told him. "We will be taking a trip – you, me, and your pretty sister. If you behave then I won't have to shoot her in her pretty head."

Edmund glowered at him but nodded. "All right."

There was never a chance for Edmund to try to kill Crowley or get the gun away from him. Crowley had Edmund toss aside the knife once he realized that the younger man was armed, then confiscated the knife and had Susan tie Edmund's hands together at the wrists, keeping the gun trained on both of them the entire time.

The gun remained trained on Susan during the car ride across the city, while Crowley drove. Edmund was seated in the back, behind Susan, probably so that he couldn't attempt to strangle Crowley from behind.

When they got to the run down house where it seemed that Crowley was squatting, they went inside and Crowley tied Susan to a chair.

"I only really need you, at this time," he told Edmund, "So I'll just keep your sister here for good behavior."

"You can't," Edmund protested. "The time difference between the worlds – she could be here for weeks and –"

"Then you had better help me with what I need quickly," Crowley said nastily as he tied a gag around Susan's mouth. "Or else Susan here will end up starving to death."

"You bastard!" Edmund decided taking action was worth the risk of getting shot. He lunged at Crowley and hit him hard and low. The gun went flying out of Crowley's hands and skittered across the floor. Crowley went down hard with Edmund on top of him. Edmund tried to get up and dart toward the gun but Crowley grabbed his leg before he could get clear and Edmund went down again.

"Not a good idea, boy," Crowley growled.

Susan gave a gagged scream that sounded like "Edmund!"

Edmund kicked Crowley in the face and made another lunge for the gun. Then he yelped in pain as what felt like white hot fire sliced through his leg. He turned around to see that Crowley had stabbed him with his own knife.

"Son of a bitch!" he swore and tried to hit Crowley with a double fisted punch, but his movements were slowed by pain. Crowley caught his wrists by the rope that bound them together and hauled Edmund up, then pressed the knife against his throat.

"I wouldn't try that again, Edmund," Crowley hissed into his ear. "Don't forget, I don't really need your sister."

"Then let her go," Edmund growled back.

"So she can try to interfere or go running to the police?" Crowley chuckled. "I don't think so."

He strong armed Edmund across the room to where a dust cloth covered a large, strangely shaped object, about the size of a four post bed. Crowley kept the knife pressed against Edmund's throat so firmly that he felt the blade knick his skin as Crowley pulled the sheet off of the object. A drop of blood trickled down his throat.

"Behold my time machine," Crowley said dramatically, like the ring master of a circus. "Not that it truly transcends time. I believe that you are familiar with inter-world travel?"

"A bit," Edmund muttered, frowning at the monstrosity of brass gears, welded steel, and glowing crystal globes. He stiffened as he felt Crowley press the blade of his knife against his throat again.

"Come on," Crowley said, pushing him forward. "You and I are going to take a little trip."

End of Chapter 27

AN: Next chapter will be up on Monday! Thank you everyone who reviewed!

garnetred: Next chapter is Caspian vs. Crowley, round two!

merlyn2 – We know from The Silver Chair that the students of Experiment House are no angels, so I figured it was likely that the teachers wouldn't be any safer from their tricks than the other students.

amber'eyed'countress – It's never been that hard to find out where someone lives if you know their name. There are at least half a dozen ways Crowley could have found out where the Pevensies live – tax records, private investigators, etc . . . Or maybe Crowley was just a stalker. He's creepy enough to be one, don't you think?

mae-E – I thought about writing a joke chapter where everyone died, but that seemed too cruel, and I'm too lazy to put forth that much work for a prank. So you guys get an extra, albeit short chapter, as a treat instead of a joke chapter as a trick. People will probably like that better anyway.

Happy Halloween!!!


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The air hummed eerily, like swarm of insect, but not quite loud enough to cover a high pitched peal. Caspian felt the buzzing in his very bones as he leveled his sword at the distorted form that was materializing in the air in front of them, right on top of the scratch marks on the floor.

"I say! What the bloody hell is that?" Eustace asked.

"Stay back," Caspian told him, taking a step forward and shouldering his way in front of the boy.

"I am staying back," Eustace said indignantly. "Why does everyone seem to think I'm going to do something stupid the moment they turn around?"

"Eustace," Caspian said warningly when Eustace took a step forward.

"Shut up," Peter finished.

The distortion before them was rapidly taking form. A sphere was the first definite shape that Caspian could make out, like snow globe, with the air inside of it still swirling in chaos. Then other things became visible – metal, mainly. Brass gears and cogs like the inside of a giant clock. Then crystals. Giant shard-like crystals that had been welded in place. They glowed with a strange blue light that set all of Caspian's nerves on edge.

Finally, a sort of bench came into view, like the driver's seat of a horse drawn coach, except instead of reigns there were dials and levers. And seated on the bench were two people – both frightfully familiar.

"Edmund!" Lucy gasped.

"Crowley," Caspian snarled, starting forward. Then he drew up short at the sight of the gun Crowley had pressed again Edmund's throat.

"You bastard!" Peter shouted. He seemed to be having just as much trouble controlling himself as Caspian was.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Crowley asked, looking bemused. "Where in this world did you manage to find other humans, Mr. Casp?"

"We're not from this world, you dunce," Eustace said. "Now get your paws off my cousin!"

Caspian grimaced as Crowley's eyes widened.

"Your cousin?" the older man asked. "You're from my world too?"

"Stop telling him things that he can use against us, Scrubb," Jill growled.

"How can he use that against us?" Eustace asked. "He'd have realized we're from Earth on his own eventually."

"You okay, Ed?" Peter asked, taking a step forward.

"Yeah," Edmund said tensely.

"Where's Susan?" Caspian wanted to know. "Is she all right?"

"She's at Crowley's house," Edmund said. "Tied up."

"And as time passes significantly faster here," Crowley cut in, sounding annoyed that he was not in charge of the conversation, "I suggest you obey my whims and wishes as expediently as possible if you ever wish to see her alive again. You wouldn't want her to starve to death after all, would you?"

"You son of a bitch!" Caspian snarled, starting forward again.

Crowley pressed his gun against Edmund's throat harder, and shifted so that his hostage was between him and the five other people who were out for his blood.

"Dehydration would occur first, however," Crowley said with a nasty smile. "Before starvation I mean. It would occur within three days, which is significantly less than the amount of time I have found passes when I am in this world for even one day. It's why I appear to be about fifty years of age when, in fact, seventy-two years have passed in our world since my birth."

"You think yourself clever because of that?" Caspian asked, slowly edging closer. Out the corner of his eye he noticed Peter doing the same, from the other side.

"I have cheated time and age," Crowley told him. "I outmaneuvered the original owner of this machine and claimed it as my own. I outmaneuvered you and your friend here, two others who've managed to transcend the boundaries of their world."

"If you are so smart then answer me this," Caspian said. He took another step forward. "If I charge you with my sword, are you going to shoot Edmund? Or are you going to shoot at me?"

"Caspian, don't!" Lucy shouted, grasping Caspian's plan at the exact same moment as Crowley.

Crowley removed the barrel of his gun from Edmund's neck and shifted both his aim and his concentration to Caspian. That was a mistake – disregarding Edmund. The younger boy seized his opportunity and lashed out with both hands, since they were still bound together. He struck Crowley's forearms from below, forcing the gun toward the ceiling.

The shot rang out, deafening in the stone box of a room that they were in. It served as a signal for both Caspian and Peter, who sprang into action the moment the shot resounded. Peter surged forward, toward his brother, but Caspian stumbled, inexplicably, and went down on one knee.

Confusion was the first thing he felt. Then pain, then the trickle of blood just above his collarbone, on the right side of his torso. His sword was clanging against the floor before he even realized he'd dropped it. Caspian took his gaze off his target and lowered it to his wound to find a red rimmed, bullet sized hole in his shirt. The red stain was quickly growing.

_He shot me? _Caspian thought, pressing his left hand against his wound. _How?_ He was pretty certain that Edmund had deflected Crowley's aim in time.

Rock dust and a few pebbles rained down from the ceiling and gave him his answer. The bullet had ricocheted off the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Peter had managed to reach Crowley, unhindered. He leapt onto the machine and raised his sword to cut Crowley down.

Unfortunately, Crowley had just enough time to recover and turned his gun on Peter. Another shot resounded through the cavern and sparks flew as the bullet collided with Rhindon. Peter stumbled backward, but didn't seem to have been hit – but that didn't matter to Crowley who leveled his gun at Peter for another shot.

Edmund chose that moment to make his presence known again. He threw himself at his brother, knocking Peter down, off the machine just as Crowley fired again.

An arrow splintered against one of the machine's crystals, and Jill and her less than perfect shooting effectively drew Crowley's attention to her.

"Th-that was a w-w-warning shot!" the girl stammered. "Drop your gun!"

"And if I don't?" Crowley asked, grinning like a madman.

"You're down three shots, Crowley," Lucy said. Her gun was leveled on the Crowley but she had better sense than to fire in a stone box. "You only have three left. You can't kill all of us, and whichever of us are left standing will kill you, unless you surrender right now."

Crowley actually laughed. "Surrender? To children?"

"You might remember that my cousins are thirteen-hundred years old," Eustace said. "Give or take a couple decades."

"And you're only seventy-two," Jill said. She seemed to do better at insulting than threatening. "Doesn't that make you the child here?"

"But Pole," Eustace said, sounding self conscious, "what does that make us? I mean we –"

"Shut up, Scrubb," Jill snapped.

"With three shots I can kill three of you," Crowley said. "Plus there is Queen Susanna to think about. She is the one that the character in your books was based on, is she not, Mr. Casp?"

Caspian glowered at Crowley as he got back to his feet. "You are a dead man, Crowley," he vowed. "I will make sure of that. No one hurts my future wife and lives."

"Future wife," Crowley leered.

Caspian took a step forward. Then another. And another. Unarmed and injured as he was, Crowley didn't seem to see him as a threat. _He won't live to regret that mistake,_ Caspian promised himself.

"Hey Caspian," Edmund said. "Don't be declaring Susan your future wife until you've gotten down on one knee in front of her, you hear?"

"Yeah," Peter said, sounding affronted. "And isn't there someone you need to ask for permission for that?"

Crowley swung his gun back to cover the two Pevensie boys now that they were back on their feet.

"I say!" Eustace looked at his cousins quizzically. "Weren't you just saying the other day that Caspian and Susan just needed to hurry up and get engaged? And now you're telling him he's being too forward? Hypocrites, the both of you!"

Eustace obviously did not understand the concept of misguided direction even if he did manage to help them out with it. Crowley's attention wavered as Eustace made his declaration, and in that moment Peter, Edmund, and Caspian all made their moves.

Peter and Edmund dove to either side, getting out of Crowley's line of fire and staying in motion so they were harder targets to hit. Caspian, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, closed the distance between himself and the time machine.

Crowley wasted another bullet, firing at the empty space where Peter and Edmund had been moments before. He had just enough time to turn his head toward Caspian before Caspian kicked the weapon out of his hands. It clattered to the floor and slid and was quickly retrieved by Lucy.

Crowley stood frozen for a moment then spun as though he intended to run. Caspian struck him in the back of the neck with his left hand and the man went down hard. Crowley fell onto the levers of the machine, depressing one of them, and suddenly the crystals began to glow and the gears started to turn.

"Caspian, get down!" Peter shouted. "Get off that thing!"

But it was too late. The sphere of swirling blue light that had surrounded the machine as it appeared was back in place, and Caspian somehow doubted it was safe to jump through that. Moreover, he knew the machine had the potential to take him directly to Susan. If it was not already en route to the world where she was held captive then Caspian would just have to slice off Crowley's fingers, one by one, until the bastard reset its route so that it would take him to her.

The gears began to whirl faster and the buzzing noise sounded again. The other sound that the machine emanated, the high pitched tone, was louder now that he was right on top of the source. Caspian ground his teeth together as it reverberated through his skull so loud, he felt as though the pressure would split his head open.

Crowley seemed less affected by the sound. Perhaps he'd grown accustomed to it on his many trips between the worlds. He pushed himself up off the ground and lunged at Caspian with a knife.

Pain dulled Caspian's reflexes. He managed to bring his arm up in time to keep Crowley from flaying open his throat, but the blade went straight through his forearm. Caspian hissed in pain and Crowley pressed his advantage. He withdrew the blade and took another swipe at Caspian's throat. Caspian leaned away from the knife, just in time. The blade passed so close to his neck that he felt the edge of it just graze his flesh, leaving a line as thin as a paper cut.

Then he stumbled as pain and disorientation finally caught up with him. He fell off the bench and into one of the pieces of welded steel that held the machine together. He managed to grab onto it with his uninjured arm before he fell all the way off.

The machine was no longer in the world inhabited by Morlocks and Eloi – at least Caspian didn't think it was. The sphere of light around the machine was too bright to see what lay beyond it – not that Caspian really wanted to find out what was beyond it, though he was dangerously close to doing so.

His grip on the steel fixture was precarious and his right arm was bleeding profusely and was sapped of strength. He tried to find a foothold by wedging his boot into a crevice in the metal.

Then Crowley appeared above him with the knife.

Crowley's lips moved as though he was speaking, but Caspian couldn't hear him over the other noise. Not that he needed to. The other man's intentions were clear. He knelt at the edge of the bench and slashed down with his knife.

End of Chapter 28

AN:It's almost over! The conclusion of In All The Worlds will be posted on Friday, Nov. 6. Thank you everyone for reading this far, and double thanks to my wonderful reviewers, whose support I greatly appreciate.

merlyn2 and diva divine – The real Aleister Crowley was quite a piece of work too – he earned himself the title of "the wickedest man on earth." I thought he was a good historical figure to add into the story, and I'm glad you think I do him justice as a villain.

Miniver – I believe in happy endings – but that doesn't mean I won't make the characters work for them, lol

mae-E – Don't worry, Susan doesn't have to wait too long for her knight to show up and save her.


	29. Chapter 29

AN: This is the last chapter, then there's a short epilogue that will make more sense if you've read _The Last Battle. _

Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter, including: Mrs. Redhead and Ash12345, and a really, really big thanks to diva divine, merlyn2, garnetred, mae-E, maristelle, and Miniver for reviewing every, or almost every chapter. This extra long chapter is for you guys! I tried to put in things that you all asked for, and to answer as many of your questions as I could.

Chapter 29

Caspian released his grip on the steel fixture right before Crowley could slice his fingers off. The blade sparked as it came in contact with the metal, but Caspian barely noticed. He was too busy swinging upside down by his one foot, which he'd lodged in that crevice. It was a lot more disorienting than simply being in pain.

The edge of the sphere was much too close for comfort. Caspian's face was literally only inches away from the swirling sapphire light. He had to pull his arms away from it to keep them from falling through.

He was successful at keeping his left arm away from the edge of the sphere. His right arm was another matter. The severed muscles in it and connected to it made it weak and despite his best efforts, Caspian was helpless to do anything but watch as it passed through the light.

A strange sensation filled every inch of his arm that crossed the barrier. It wasn't exactly painful but it was far from pleasant. Caspian screamed – not that it mattered since the noise of the machine was so loud – and managed to wrench his arm out of the light.

Then he blinked.

Where there had been an open gash only seconds ago, there was now a pale white scar, as though the knife wound had been delivered years ago. It looked as though it had had years to heal.

Caspian was confused but didn't have time to hang there, pondering what just happened. The blood rushing to his head wasn't very pleasant either.

His stomach muscles screamed as he used them to sit up and grab onto his knee for support. From there another metal fixture was within reach. He wrapped his hands around it and pulled himself up, onto the very narrow perch that it formed, then checked to make sure that Crowley was not about to slash at him again.

Crowley was no longer near the edge of the machine. It took Caspian a moment to spot him, since he had to peer through the welded metal that made up the frame of the machine. The older man was glaring down at him, looking as though he'd like to come down and finish him off.

"Bastard!" Caspian shouted at him, though his voice was drowned out by the whirring of gears. He checked his wound again – or rather checked his lack of a wound again. The gash on his forearm was completely healed. No one would believe that only a minute ago, blood had been streaming freely from it.

He wiped the sweat off his brow and brushed some stray pieces of hair out of his eyes. Then he noticed something odd about his hair. The tips of some pieces were iron gray – the exact same shade all of his hair had been in Narnia, near the end of his first life, before Aslan resurrected him and restored his youth. It was as though pieces of his hair had aged decades, but only certain pieces – the longer pieces that had come in contact with or passed through the sphere of swirling light.

_Time between the worlds is always a mess,_ Caspian remembered. His experience with that was limited, but the Pevensies, Eustace, and Jill all agreed on that fact. _It would make sense that the space between worlds messes up time as well . . . as far as any of this makes sense, t least._

Caspian didn't completely understand it, but doubted that thinking on it would make it any clearer. He needed to take care of Crowley, and quickly, before the machine brought them back to Earth, where Crowley might take Susan hostage.

Caspian began climbing the side of the machine, carefully as he came within Crowley's reach again.

Crowley grinned and slashed at his hand. The first time Caspian had to draw back quickly to avoid being cut open. Then Crowley stabbed at him again, and this time Caspian had a better hold. He grabbed Crowley's knife hand and jerked the other man forward.

Crowley's mouth opened in a scream that might as well have been silent next to the noise that the time machine was making. He let go of the knife to try to grab onto the machine, but Caspian didn't give him the chance. He got a hand hold on the front of Crowley's shirt and pulled with all his strength, detaching Crowley from the machine.

Down went Crowley, kicking and flailing, and probably yelling his lungs out too, but none of that made any difference. He crashed into the sphere – or rather, through the sphere, but right before he sunk all the way into it, he managed to latch onto one of the pieces of metal that elevated the machine off the floor when it wasn't in transit. Crowley's perch was significantly lower the one Caspian had held onto when he nearly fell from the machine. In fact, Crowley was hanging more than halfway through the sphere – only his arms remained within the time machine's protective bubble.

Caspian watched in muted horror as time began to take its toll on Crowley. All the years that he had skipped seemed to come crashing down on him all at once. His skin grew pale and started sagging. Wrinkles spread across his face as it shriveled like a prune. His hair began turning gray, then white, then started falling out by the handful.

Caspian was so spellbound by the grotesque sight that he barely noticed that the machine's mechanical whirring was quieting down, and Crowley's screams were finally audible. Then the light changed as a room began appearing outside the sphere. Wooden walls, dingy windows, and a cracked tile floor all came into view. Then a chair, where a familiar young woman was bound with her hands behind her back. It took all of Caspian's self control not to jump off the machine and run to Susan until its engine shut down completely.

Crowley fell to the ground first – not quite dead, but barely alive. He choked and wheezed as though every breath he took caused him pain. Which it probably did, but which he definitely deserved as far as Caspian was concerned. When at last, Caspian knew it was safe to get off the machine he went straight to Susan, actually jumping over Crowley's withered body to get to her, since the doomed man was in his way.

Susan was gagged but tried to speak anyway. Caspian removed that first and knelt down so that he was at eye level with her.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, touching the side of her face gently, wiping away her tears with his thumb.

"Are you?" Susan asked, turning the question around on him. "What happened? Where's Edmund? What is _that?"_

"Shhh," Caspian said, leaning close enough to her so that their foreheads were touching. "Edmund is with your other siblings. He is fine. I am fine. Only Crowley there is not fine, and I do not think any of us will be particularly bothered by that. Are _you_ all right?"

Susan nodded. "I cut myself on the ropes trying to get them off, but other than that, I'm fine."

"I will get you out of here," Caspian told her and started to stand.

"Wait!" Susan said quickly.

"What?" Caspian asked, alarmed.

"Kiss me," Susan ordered, sounding so imperious that it was almost funny.

Caspian blinked at her then smiled. "Yes, milady."

He wished that they had more time – and that their circumstances were more appropriate. But as much as Caspian enjoyed the kiss, he couldn't put the fact that the love of his life was still tied up out of his mind. As soon as Susan permitted it, he moved behind her and untied the ropes that held her to the chair.

"That's Crowley?" Susan asked, looking at their nemesis disgustedly.

"That is Crowley," Caspian confirmed. "He . . . sort of fell off of the machine while it was between the worlds . . . and that was what happened."

"It's no more than he deserves," Susan said and started toward their fallen foe.

Caspian put an arm out to stop her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

There was a cold glint in Susan's crystal blue eyes. "Making sure he never hurts anyone I love again," she said in a voice like an arctic wind.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Caspian said, taking Susan's hand in his own.

They watched as Crowley clawed at his own throat, struggling to breath. His chest rose, and fell, and rose, and fell, and then didn't rise again. His hand slipped onto the floor and lay motionless and his eyes glazed over. After several moments of waiting Caspian let Susan's hand fall from his own and stepped forward. He knelt at their enemy's side and checked his pulse.

"He's dead," Caspian told her.

"Good," Susan said. She moved so that she stood behind Caspian, then leaned over him and wrapped her arms him, hugging him from behind and resting her chin on his shoulder. "Let's go home, Caspian."

X

After Caspian and Crowley and that abominable machine disappeared, Edmund picked himself up off the floor and stared at the empty space. He half expected them to appear again almost immediately. Time passed so much faster in the other world, and Caspian would certainly come right back . . . wouldn't he?

"Caspian won that fight . . . right?" Lucy asked shakily after several long moments of silence had passed.

"Of course he did," Eustace told her. "There is absolutely no way Crowley could beat Caspian in a fight!"

"In a fair fight," Jill said softly. "Caspian was injured."

"Even in an unfair fight, I'd wager on Caspian over Crowley any day," Edmund said.

"Then why aren't they back yet?" Jill demanded. "Wouldn't Caspian bring the machine straight back?"

"You're talking about a man who refuses to learn how to drive, because he hates automobiles so much," Peter reminded them. "Caspian still moves to draw his sword whenever a car backfires. He and Susan will have smashed the crystals on that machine to pieces and torn out whatever gears they can. They're probably waiting for us back home even now."

"He's right," Edmund said, though he wasn't completely convinced. "We should go home and meet them there."

They used their rings to get to the woods. Edmund hitched a ride with Peter and Eustace with Jill since they were both missing their own. Before long they were back home in London. The house was considerably warmer this time than it had been the last time Edmund arrived.

They looked around the kitchen expectantly, but Susan and Caspian weren't there. Edmund even checked in the family room, where the fire was still burning, but it was empty. That seemed like an ominous sign until the sound of the front door opening caught their attention.

"Susan! Caspian!" Lucy was off like an arrow, heedless of her soaking wet clothes. Jill and Eustace were at her heels. Edmund and Peter followed with a bit more reserve – but not much more.

"Lucy? Eustace? What's going on?" A familiar voice reached their ears before they reached the entry hall and Edmund's heart sunk.

"Dad . . ." Lucy's disappointment was evident in her voice.

"Uncle Daniel . . ." Eustace didn't sound any happier.

The moment his sons stepped into the hall Daniel Pevensie locked eyes with them. "Any word on Caspian?" he asked.

"Well . . ." Edmund and Peter spoke in uncertain unison then looked at each other, not sure how to proceed.

"And why are you all soaking wet?" Daniel wanted to know.

"It's a long story," Peter said, dropping his gaze to the ground.

"Yeah," Edmund agreed. He was not looking forward to telling their father all that they had gone through, only to lose Caspian again, and now Susan too.

Suddenly there was another noise on the other side of the door – footsteps on the porch, then the rattle of the old iron knob as the door opened.

"Father!" Susan exclaimed happily at the sight of Daniel. She looked past him, into the room, and smiled as she saw that her other siblings, her cousin, and her friend were there as well. "We're the last ones home, are we?"

"They beat us back?" Caspian asked, stepping inside after her and shutting the door behind him.

"You're all right!" Lucy bounded past her father to hug Susan then Caspian.

"Lucy, you're all wet!" Susan said in a scolding voice, but there was a smile on her face.

"You're injured," Daniel said, immediately zeroing in on the bloodstains on Caspian's shirt.

"He got shot," Eustace said. "Crowley shot him in the cave –"

"Crowley did this?" Daniel's voice took on an edge. "I'll see that bastard hung for this. Where is he?"

"Dead," Caspian told them. "And I'm all right."

"I'll be the judge of that," Daniel said firmly. He looked at the other children and frowned. "Go put on some dry clothes, you lot," he ordered. "Explanations can wait until you're not tempting pneumonia. And after I've patched Caspian up."

"I have something I need to speak with you about, Daniel," Caspian said as Daniel shepherded him into the kitchen.

"Susan, can you help me find something for Jill to wear?" Lucy asked, a bit louder than she needed to.

"Jill's closer to your size than she is to mine," Susan said, looking at her confused.

"I meant, can you help her find something of mine to wear?" Lucy amended. "I need to get my cordial out of my pack."

"I can do that," Susan offered.

"No, no, I buried it quite deep," Lucy said quickly. "It will take you too long to find it."

"Lucy, I don't –"

"She's trying to get you out of the kitchen, Susan," Eustace said with his usual tact. "And it's not as though you don't know why."

"Eustace!" Lucy snapped.

"What?" Eustace asked. "I just saved you a lot of time and excuses. Besides – Ooff!" Eustace gasped as Edmund's elbow made contact with his side.

"Let's go," Peter said, grabbing Eustace by the shoulder and steering him toward the hall.

Edmund stood to the side as Peter, Eustace, Susan, and Jill exited the kitchen. Lucy grinned at him and began digging through her pack to find her cordial.

"Caspian?" Edmund said to get his friend's attention. "Just so you know, the luggage that you took to visit Professor Kirke is up in my room now. Just in case you need something from it." He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he said that.

The corner of Caspian's mouth quirked to one side. "That might be helpful."

Then Edmund went to change clothes – again. He was starting to run out of dry things. He'd just finished pulling on another sweater when there was a knock on his door. "Come in, Caspian," Edmund said with a knowing smile.

Then Caspian entered and Edmund did a double take. The other man's face was pale and drawn and his eyes were wide, almost frantic. Caspian looked worse now, after being healed by Lucy's cure-all potion, than he had when Edmund found him in that cage.

"You should relax, my friend," he said as Caspian went to his trunk and began to sift through his things. "She's going to say yes."

"I hope so," Caspian said. "I don't know what I will do if she says no."

"She won't," Edmund promised. "She loves you. Now hurry up and go ask her."

Caspian found the ring and gave Edmund a short, jerky nod. Edmund walked to his door and stood in the threshold, watching Caspian descend back down the stairs.

Then Lucy bounded out of her room, having changed in what was probably record time for her. "He asked Dad for Susan's hand and Dad gave him permission," Lucy whispered excitedly. "Now all that's left is for Susan to say yes!"

"I say!" Eustace said, appearing from behind Lucy, along with Jill and Peter. "Let's go eavesdrop. Listen in, you know? I'm sure it will be entertaining."

"Really, Eustace." Peter gave him an annoyed look.

"I can't believe you!" Lucy said, looking very affronted herself.

"Did you really think we wouldn't come up with that idea on our own?" Edmund asked.

They gave Eustace half a second to absorb what they'd just said. Then the next few moments were chaos as they all tried to move at once and get in front of each other, hoping to get the best spot for spying.

X

"I . . . I think you probably know what I'm going to ask you," Caspian said, praying that he didn't sound like a fool. Susan opened her mouth to answer but he raised one hand to stop her. "Please. Let me . . . let me say this because . . . I've been thinking about saying these words to you for almost fifty years." Caspian paused, realizing how that sounded. "Not those words, I mean. And I know that makes this all sound very . . . odd, but our circumstances aren't exactly normal."

"I know what you mean," Susan said and gave him an encouraging smile.

Caspian took that as a good sign.

"I love you," he told her. "From the moment I saw you. I have never stopped loving you. Even when I thought that I had lost you forever I couldn't let go of these feelings . . ." He took a deep breath. "I lived a whole other life in Narnia. You did too. We may look like young people in love to everyone else, but we're not. We both know what the worlds have to offer, and I swear to you, from the bottom of my soul, that in all the worlds that exist now and have yet to exist, there is no one that I could ever love more than you. So, I'm begging you, Queen Susan . . ." With those words he went down on one knee before her and held his ring out to her. "Be my wife."

"Yes," Susan said immediately, so quickly that Caspian didn't even have time to feel his nervousness grow. There was no deafening silence as he waited for an answer, no tense moment that let self doubt in. There was just Susan's hand in both of his as he slid the ring onto her finger, and Susan's lips against his when they embraced.

"Finally! I thought he'd never spit it out!"

"Eustace, shut up!"

"I say! You can't honestly tell me you weren't getting impatient while he went on and on and –"

"You're so unromantic, Scrubb! You know this is why you don't have a girlfriend!"

Susan and Caspian reluctantly ended their kiss and looked ruefully at each other, then at the door. "Your new family," Susan said dryly. Then she raised her voice. "You can stop listening at the keyhole, now. We know you're there."

"Way to go, Scrubb."

"You were the loud one!"

The door opened to reveal all of Susan's siblings, Jill, and Eustace, wearing sheepish expressions.

"Sorry," Lucy said, "We just really wanted to hear."

"Nice speech, Caspian," Eustace said, giving him a thumbs up signal. "Very eloquent, if a bit wordy. And by a bit I mean –"

"Eustace," Caspian cut him off with a good natured chuckle.

"Shut up," Susan finished.

There was a knock on the door frame as Daniel appeared in the hallway. He smiled upon seeing Susan and Caspian standing so close together, still holding hands. "So it's official," he said. It was a statement, not a question. "Welcome to the family, son."

"Thanks, Dad," Caspian said with a wry smile.

Daniel turned a stern gaze on his other children and their guests. "Perhaps now that the important question has been asked and answered, we can give Susan and Caspian a bit of privacy."

The others looked sheepish again as they filed out of the room, with a few calls and congratulations as they parted.

Once the door closed behind them, Susan stepped toward Caspian with outstretched arms. Her crystal blue eyes were filled with happiness as they locked onto Caspian's and when he reached for her she was warm and solid and real in his arms. Even though she'd been lost to him for so long they were together again. The beautiful visage of Queen Susan remained in his mind as he closed his eyes and leaned in for another kiss – and he knew that true love was still possible.

End of Chapter 29


	30. Epilogue

Epilogue

Shift coughed and spluttered as he surfaced in a pool that was very different from the one he'd dived into. The water wasn't as glassy clear as it had been in the pool in the Woods Between the Worlds. It wasn't really murky but it was churned by the current and kept in constant motion.

He pulled himself onto the bank and looked around. The world he was in looked like a nice enough world, but looks could be quite deceiving, as he well knew.

A rustle of plants caught Shift's attention. He tensed, preparing himself for a fight, but the strange, four-legged creature that emerged from the underbrush was too small and skittish to be much of a threat. Wide, fearful eyes locked on Shift's and Shift found himself wondering how hard this creature would be to catch, and whether or not it would taste better raw or cooked.

Then the creature spoke. "Are . . . are you an Ape?"

"An Ape?" The word was vaguely familiar. Edmund and Scrubb had used it several times in reference to Shift and his appearance. "Yes," he told the creature. "That is exactly what I am. An Ape. And what, might I ask, are you?"

"I'm a Donkey," the creature told him. "My name's Puzzle. Do you want to be my friend?"

The End.

Thanks again, all of you guys, for reading this far, checking back every week, reviewing, and above all, reminding me why I love writing. I've had a lot of fun writing this story and I hope you all enjoyed it! I'll be writing a third story in this AU, centered around Edmund, Eustace, and Jill, and the developing dynamics between these three characters, which many of you mentioned that you found interesting. I don't know for certain how long it will be before I finish planning and get a chance to write that story, but I have another Narnia project in mind that I hope to start in the next month or two. If you're looking for something to read in the meantime, please check out the original stories that I have on my website – or put my books on your Christmas list, lol.

Once again, thank you all for your support, and I hope that you had fun reading!

-Meteor


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